Mandatory Health Insurance

The US Supreme Court will begin three days of oral argument onmandatory health insurance says employment attorney Riverside. This is an appropriate time to comment on workplace-related issues concerning workers' health insurance. Danz &Associates represents employees (administrative and hourly) throughoutCalifornia. From the "big cities" of LA and San Francisco, to therural outposts of Blythe, Arcata the Central Coast and El Centro,we've seen it all. One of the most common inquiries involves whetheran employer can terminate an employee who is out on some form of sickleave. Many times, the leave is pursuant to the California FamilyRights Act, which is identical to the federal (and better known)Family Medical Leave Act. This provides for up to 12 weeks of leavefor employees who have worked for at least 12 months, accrued 1,250hours, and the employer has at least 50 employees within 75 miles ofthe worksite.

According to employment attorney San Diego, in a nutshell, an employer CAN terminate an mployee out on approved sick leave, but may not terminate that person BECAUSE of the leave (aslong as the employee is entitled to that leave, has given reasonablenotice, etc.). When there is a good faith lay off, its a closer call.The employer may not count the performance (or lack of it) during theleave time against the employee. This often arises in commission-onlyemployment cases.

The second-most common inquiry regarding employee leave status ariseswhen an employee is out on either private or state "disability". Manyemployees believe that as long as they are qualified for "disability",they may not be fired. This is not correct!. Disability insurance isbetween the disability carrier (including state disability) and theemployee. The employer is not involved and need not follow protectedleave requirements simply because an employee is on disability.

If you are on a workman's compensation absence from work, CaliforniaLabor Code 132a prohibits the employer from treating you more harshlythan a non-industrially injured worker and may not iscriminate against you because of your condition. The recent California SupremeCourt case of City of Moorpark vs. Superior Court made clear thatindustrially-injured workers are entitled to sue for discriminationunder the California Government Code, along with seeking theirworkman's compensation benefits. We do not practice workman'scompensation in all of our offices, but would be happy to refer you toa local work comp attorney in your area.

As always, this blog is not intended to give legal advise but iseducational in nature only. Seek an experienced attorney in your state to help with your case.