When was the last time you reviewed your employee benefit situation?  Most of us fill out tons of paperwork when we start a new job, and then we don’t think much about our overall benefits unless we use them.
But do you know if you’re qualified to receive life insurance? Have you designated beneficiaries where necessary? Do you even know who the benefits personnel are with your employer?  And if you do know a lot about your benefits, when was the last time you reviewed them?
Sometimes it’s not what we do that matters, but what our employer does. Sometimes you can do everything right, and still end up without promised benefits simply because your employer has the law on their side.
Here’s a story from the AP about Spherion Corporation that denied $426,000 of benefits to the spouse of an employee who died simply because he didn’t fulfill one day of employment under a new insurance policy, that he didn’t even know he was required to do.Â
“Spherion’s decision to deny benefits to Amschwand-Bellinger turned on an odd set of facts. Spherion, which employs about 300,000 people, switched insurers after Thomas Amschwand was diagnosed with a rare form of heart cancer. The new policy did not take effect until an employee worked one full day. Spherion never informed Amschwand of the requirement.”
“Amschwand asked repeatedly whether there was anything else he needed to do and was told no. He asked that the new policy be sent to him. Spherion never did so.”
“He died without returning to work. His widow said he easily could have worked a day if that was what it took to activate the new policy. Spherion could have waived the one-day-of-work provision, as it did for other employees but not for Amschwand.”
Incredibly, even though his widow sued the company, she lost under current legal guidelines. Â
 **Update: Spherion Corporation has provided some additional information about this case. For further information, click here to read about the Amschwand case on the Spherion website. Only the family and Spherion really know the details, but in fairness we wanted to ensure all available information was provided.
Employee benefits issues will certainly become more important in the years ahead, especially with an aging workforce.
Along those lines,  the Supreme Court has come down on the side of employee rights in several workplace discrimination cases recently.  Arguably some employers see this as another expanding threat of increasing costs and bureaucratic mandates. Yet for older workers, discrimation within the workplace can be a real concern, especially coupled with the dual impact of health care benefit needs and retirement planning needs. Employers are now on notice to ensure they are not denying benefits or job advancement opportunties to older workers due to discrimination, or basically “firing” an older worker simply because of the potential cost of health or retirement plan benefits.
Most importantly however, it’s up to individual employees - young or old - to make sure they know and are receiving benefit information, and that they’ve signed and completed paperwork or other requirements for the benefits to be valid.
Understanding and implementing benefit programs for employees shouldn’t be this difficult. For many companies it’s not, and the company works together with employees to help them understand their benefits. But like much in our financial lives, it pays to be prepared. Â
Take another look at your benefit programs and make sure you understand the rights (and responsibilities) you have in making sure you receive the benefits you are entitled to when necessary.Â
For more information, see your Human Resources or Benefits Personnel office, or check out a few helpful links at the U.S. Department of Labor:
- Health Care Plan benefit information
- Retirement and Pension Plan information
- Retirement Savings issues
- Consumer Publications available
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Spherion provides responses to frequently-asked questions concerning the Amschwand case here:
http://www.spherion.com/amschwand.jsp (please enter full address to access page).
Spherion Corp- Thank you for the reference and update. We don’t really know the details, but obviously there are differing points of view.