Term Paper on "Labor Laws Since Their Inceptions Both Cobra"

Term Paper 4 pages (1161 words) Sources: 4 Style: Chicago

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Labor Laws

Since their inceptions both COBRA and the FLSA have served an important purpose in the employment world. Throughout the nation employees work hard and help the companies that employ them to build empires of wealth, however, if there are bumps in the road either on the part of the employee or employer the company often goes on to continue growing while the employee, who helped build that company is left out in the cold. COBRA and FLSA both help reduce the stress and anxiety that can go with the loss of a job for reasons other than Gross Misconduct.

COBRA

To understand the purpose they each serve it is important to have an understanding about what each program actually provides.

COBRA provides the opportunity for employees who no longer qualify for coverage, either through job separation or loss of full time status to maintain the same level of health, dental or vision benefits that they enjoyed while fully employed by that company (COBRA, 2005).

COBRA coverage time frames vary depending on what the qualifying event is but it is primarily offered for 18 months or 36 months (Bikoff, 2004).

The person using the COBRA benefit must pay a premium that can be up to 102% of the applicable premium under the group plan. In layman terms this means that the former employer will begin paying for the portion that his/her company used to pay, plus what the employee used to pay plus two percent administration or other fees to equal 102% (COBRA, 2005). While this is not a mandatory percentage to pay, many employees are required to pay this amount to maintain their coverage unless the company has a provision to maintain some or all of the previous worker's premiums. A rare event to be sure.

COBRA plan can be terminated when the life of the mandated time frame expires, 18, 29 or36 months depending on the plan. It can also be terminated if the former employee fails to pay the premium as long as he or she receives a written notice letting them know it did not get paid and after a 30 day grace period it is not caught up (COBRA, 2005).

FLSA

Another protection for employees in the United States is the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

FLSA mandates the requirements for non-exempt and exempt wage compensation. Workers who are paid hourly are always non-exempt while salaried workers can be exempt or non-exempt depending on several factors.

Generally employees making less than $455 a week salary are entitled to overtime pay any week that they work more than 40 hours (FLSA).

Another method for being classified exempt is a standard duty test. If the employee regularly supervises two or more employees it qualifies as exempt status. In addition there is an exemption status for those positions requiring advanced degrees in education as well as administrative duties in which the employee has independent decision making power, in significant areas of the general business management (Bonnecaze, 2005).

Changes were instituted in 2004 that set new and additional guidelines for employers to follow. At that time employers were advised not to suddenly change and reclassify employees from non-exempt to exempt for the purpose of avoiding overtime mandates. This could not only anger employees but could also bring authorities to the company for an FLSA examination (FLSA 2004).

My Opinion

In my opinion the laws today are as effective as they were on the day they were passed, however,… READ MORE

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