Do I have to pay back health insurance premiums, if not returning to work ?
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Do I have to pay back health insurance premiums, if not returning to work ?
im On maternity leave and I live with my bf , his job provides housing. He has taken a job in the same company in a different state so we have to move . Hence I will lose my job , does that mean Im going to have to pay back my health insurance premiums my portion and the companies?
Asked on October 4, 2019 under Employment Labor Law, New Jersey
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 4 years ago | Contributor
You probably will have to repay them. The premise of maternity leave is that it is a temporary leave and the employee will return: it is on that basis--on that understanding--that the employer keeps paying your insurance, to ensure continuity of coverage. Clearly, if instead of taking leave, you quit, they would not pay your premiums; but taking leave, with its implicit promise that you will return, then not returning (or only returning for a very brief period of time, such as to qualify for or vest in something, then leaving, so that it's clear you never meant to return permanently) is functionally the equivalent of simply quitting day 1 of your leave: that day, you stopped working and did not come back. It is also essentially committing fraud against the employer: lying about or misrepresenting your intentions to get them to pay your insurance when they were not going to get your return to employment in exchange for it. For these reasons, they could seek the repayment of your premiums.
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