Legal Question in Employment Law in Florida

Re: Medical Benefits termination

It is not illegal to fire someone prior to the resignation date, or to stop health benefits once the termination is effective.

Under COBRA, you have the right to continue paying for your health benefits yourself, usually for up to 18 months. The employer can charge up to 102% of the premium. For example, if they pay $400 per month for you, they can charge you $408 per month for the benefit. You are supposed to receive notice within 14 days of the termination. although it often takes longer. Once you get the notice, you can decide whether to opt for the insurance. You can cancel at any time.

The only possible problem with the termination is if it violates a contract or handbook provision. For example, if your employee handbook requires or requests two weeks notice, you can argue that the employer has breached either an implied contract to retain you during the two weeks, or the duty of good faith and fair dealing that exists in every contract. (Basically, people are required to act reasonably under every contract. Handbook provisions are often considered contractual.)

For practical purposes, though, the employer would not agree with you and you would have to sue, just to get two weeks of pay and benefits. It would cost you much more than that in time and money.

So, if you do have a handbook or agreement that talks about this, you can send a demand letter to the employer making the argument, but I wouldn't expect to get very far.

Otherwise, your insurance really should still be good because of the COBRA issue - generally, companies do not actually cancel the policy before the COBRA election is made - so you should call the insurance company to see exactly what the story is. If the insurance is still good, the two weeks might not affect you.

Good luck!

Jeff Sheldon

Jeffrey L. Sheldon

The Sheldon Law Firm

CAVEAT: This is only general advice based on limited facts and knowledge of the situation. It thus can not be relied upon as legal advice nor it the author responsible or liable for any actions by the parties involved in the matter.