Employee status changes
Part-time to full-time or temporary to permanent employment
An employee who changes from part-time to full-time employment on a permanent basis or from temporary to permanent employment is eligible for coverage after serving the probationary period as a permanent employee listed on the Group Master Policy.
The probationary period is established based on the full-time, permanent employment date. We may require additional documentation to support this change.
Note: The 1995 Wisconsin Act 289 does not allow an employer to require an employee to work more than 30 hours per week to be eligible for group health insurance coverage.
Lay-off/disability
If an employee is not active at work and/or doesn't meet the eligibility guideline (30 hours per week in most cases), our standard policy is the employee should be terminated from active coverage immediately and offered COBRA/Continuation.
If your group has a special policy for these situations where employees are not terminated from active coverage immediately – or you are offering a severance agreement that includes extended health insurance benefits – you must contact your Account Manager to determine if the policy is acceptable to us.
Example: Laid-off employees receive an additional month of coverage from the date of lay off before being terminated and offered COBRA/Continuation. If the request is approved, the special provision is effective the first of the month following approval.
Rehired previously terminated employees
If you've rehired an eligible employee that eligible employee and previously covered dependents are eligible for coverage if their coverage was terminated because of:
- Employment termination
- Temporary lay-off
- Leave of absence
- Temporary reduction of hours
Eligible employees must complete the probationary period you've established and listed on the Group Master Policy.
There is an exception to this for large group employers. If an employee is rehired within 13 weeks of the date of termination, the employee is eligible for coverage immediately upon date of hire.