If a certain benefit is offered to management, must it be offered to all employees?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
If a certain benefit is offered to management, must it be offered to all employees?
I currently do the payroll where I work and was just informed that one employee that has happened to opt out of being covered is now going to get paid for it. I want to know if this is right before I start cutting their paychecks. If it’s legal, should it apply to all employees and not just management? It just seems wrong to me and I don’t know if I can continue working somewhere that doesn’t offer this benefit to all employees.
Asked on December 3, 2010 under Employment Labor Law, California
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 14 years ago | Contributor
The answer will depend on the specific circumstances. Employees can and do negotiate different deals with management all the time--often when they first start, but sometimes when they are already working there. It would be perfectly legal to give a more valued employee additional pay--i.e. boost his or her salary--because or she is more valued; and that would be the case even if the negotiation was along the lines of "I don't need the health insurance, so you need to raise my salary so my all-in comp remains the same." That is, while it is generally illegal to discriminate in favor of higher-income employers in terms of the health insurance they are offered, nothing stops a company from giving those same employees extra money as part of their total comp package if they are not receiving health insurance and negotiate extra pay. So there are ways this could be done legally, even if it is unfair.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.