lower level of health care benefits and wages

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chelsea

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I am representive of a small number of employee, employed by a mid size firm located in West Virginia, with corporate headquarters located in San Antonio, Texas. Our problem lies with health care benefits and wages. The package offered to the San Antonio employees of the same firm is substantially better than the level of benefits available to the WV employees. In the health care insurance benefit arena - our out of pocket expenses are greater, co-pays for office visits and prescriptions higher, and the level of paid benefits is far below those available to our Texas co-workers. Wages paid employees for the employment at same grade, same position in our area is significantly lower for West Virginia employees. All this in an area which has a higher consumer cost of living index.

The Texas employees are covered under an HMO (QPAS) plan which is not available to the West Virginia employees. The insurance carrier does not have a HMO "network" available in our area, so our health coverage is provided by the same carrier under a Preferred Provider (PPO) plan. The selection of PPO providers in our area is very limited, many "speciality services" are not even available (although there are practioners in the area-they do not particpate with the plan coverage) and even with an "approved PPO provider", our employees are financially responsible for a higher co-pay on services and the insurance company only pays 90%, after the deductible (a deductible, which by the way our Texas co-workers do not have under their plan).

We have experienced more than a few problems with the coverage of payable benefits and have requested our employer provide a copy of the policy , all we have is a "Summary of Benefits", which is totally inadequate in determining coverage for services.

I understand from the office of the West Virginia state Insurance Commissioner that all "PPO" plans are basically an "employer self-insured" plan and that the benefit level paid is determined by our company rather than the insurance carrier. Does this "employer self-insured" designation imply that the plan would fall under ERISA guidelines ? Does an "employer self-insured" plan mean that the insurance company will pay claims at the level directed by our employer ?

We know this is an "unfair", "inequitable", etc. situation, even our employer verbally "admits" this, but is it a "legal" situation ?All we have is an admission of unfairness along with a promise that when we have "more" employees the situation will be remedied. It's been two years, the project has been delayed and were looking at another 18 months before we have "more employees" and frankly, we're tired of waiting. The medical expenses are mounting for two of our employees who have had to the misfortune to use the insurance coverage and we can't help thinking how much better off we would be if we were employed/working in San Antonio. Since we are all employees of the same company, abeit working at different locations, is our employer legal bound by any state or federal law to offer the same level of benefits and rate of pay to all it's employees ?


Thanks,
C
 
It doesn't make sense to me that there would be a requirement that every state a corporation is located should require the exact same policy. What happens if there isn't the same policy to offer? I would think that there might be something in your corporate handbook that will tell you the company policy. Otherwise it's too bad. Just be happy you don't live in CA or NY or else you'd really be paying a lot in everything, including taxes. :eek:
 
Brian,

Thanks for the reply....but perhaps my post wasn't clear. We aren't looking for the "same" policy, just the same level of benefits. Subtle difference. Let's say you are working for the X Corporation in Midtown and you find out that your co worker at X Corporation in located in Midpoint:

* Receives a higher wage and you work in the area
with a higher consumer cost of living index
* Has significantly lower healthcare expenses
* Regularly receives company "freebies" like gift
certificates, company paid dinners-picnics-outings, etc.
not made available to you or the other employees at
the Midtown location

Make sense now? We are being discriminated against - not racially, or by virtue of religion , or sexual orientation but geographically. All we are asking is equitible treatment. We aren't asking for more than our co-workers, just those benefits already available through the company, sponsored by and paid for by the company for other employees to be made available to us. No more, but certainly no less.
C
 
Well, "discrimination" of this sort is not of a protected class like race, color, or creed. Additionally, there are so many variables that make it almost impossible to have certain guarantees -- who is to say whose cost of living index is proper? Should it be required that every office of a corporation must offer the same salary, extra benefits e.g. office trips, as another office? What if it was determined that the TX office should have a higher budget than the VA office and the TX office manager decided to take the employees to 2 baseball games per year? Does this equate to a requirement to do the same for the folks in VA? If merit was involved I'd wager to say that most of upper level management might be considered expendable! :)

You also have to see what your corporate policy is -- perhaps it says that they will offer a group insurance plan and if so you can't really say they haven't. What if the plan is cheaper in TX than it is in VA? I'm not an expert in this area but would seem to think that if this isn't a suspect class and isn't in violation of any corporate policy... then it's just part of the job and if you are not satisfied perhaps you should demand more or go elsewhere... or be glad to have a job in this difficult economy! :rolleyes:

While I sympathize, I can't help you here and wonder if anyone else has heard of something that might.
 
I'd like to thank both Michael and Brian for their replies...I've guess I've "known" all along that our situation doesn't violate any legal statue, but with the other employees coming to me for answers........I thought I'd better double check.

I realize that "geographic" or regional discrimination does not represent a protected class and I by no mean wish to dismiss or belittle the importance of battling discrimination based on race, creed or religion in the workplace.

A few clarifiying statements:
* Our budgets are handled by department, not by location.
* As to the cost of living in our area....the cost of obtaining housing , sales and real estate taxes as well as the cost of obtaining consumer goods at our location is about 9.6% higher than the levels experienced by our co-workers employed at the other location. This statement is based on published material prepared and distributed by the US Bureau of the Census for 2001, as well as a comparison of the materials offered by the Chamber(s) of Commerce for both locations.
* In regard to the other freebies offered, distrubution isn't based on merit-it's company wide at the other location . No employee there is left out of the mix. Even "contractural" employees at the location are included. Frankly, most of us here couldn't care less. Our real concern isn't with turkeys at Thanksgiving !
* The premium cost per employee for our location is actually lower - probably because of the limited benefits available in the region
* Our employee handbook merely states that the company will provide paid health insurance for the employee and offer health insurance to the employee's family. The insurance carrier referenced in the handbook hasn't provided coverage to the company in over four years !

The biggest "problem" here isn't really salary or freebies - most of us can live with that. Not to say that we're "happy" about it, but we've learned deal with it. These differences aren't the sticking point, but the health care insurance benefits are. I think of it as the "straw" ..........we have one employee who is encountering a "catastophic" illness in the family and the out of pocket medical expenses will most likely bankrupt the individual. Tough pill to swallow knowing the employee here is responsible for the co-pay per visit , 30% of the treatment cost, (after first meeting a large deductible before the 70% coverage levels even begin) and the same employee working at the other location would only have to worry about $15 co-pays per visit for the same treatment. It's got all of us thinking...hey, what if it happened to one of us? I can tell it's a distressing possibility. Particularly when it's all so unnecessary - We don't need to be insured under the current PPO plan , there are health insurance HMO plans available with other insurance carriers more suited to our region on the market. Plans for which our employees have volunteered to pick up any additional premium cost. But, our employer simply ignores repeated requests to address this issue, and the general consensus here is - they ignore it because it doesn't affect them.

Since it doesn't appear we have the benefit of "legal" leverage, I'll let the other employees know that it's just another situation we'll need to deal with. Who said life - or employers were "fair", right? Bad news for the employees here, but it's really worse news for the company in the long run. The job market in our area is very strong and the regional economy is booming. I have a feeling we're going to lose more than a few good employees over this issue. Not to mention the difficulty of attracting and maintaining qualified candidates in the future..............


I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their comments and close the thread.


C.

PS to Michael............It's West Virginia, dear. Yes , there really is a "West" Virginia - Common mistake though, although we were once a part of Virginia, we obtained statehood all on our very right after the Civil War ! :)
 
Originally posted by chelsea:
I'd like to thank both Michael and Brian for their replies...I've guess I've "known" all along that our situation doesn't violate any legal statue, but with the other employees coming to me for answers........I thought I'd better double check.....
PS to Michael............It's West Virginia, dear. Yes , there really is a "West" Virginia - Common mistake though, although we were once a part of Virginia, we obtained statehood all on our very right after the Civil War ! :)
LOL!!!! You know that they say that once us New Yorkers or Californians are out of our element or LA we haven't a clue what goes on in the middle of the US!!! Sorry about the VERY IMPORTANT detail. :)

The insurance issue is very distressing, with health benefits probably the most important issue in compensation besides salary. I surely sympathize with you there and wonder why your own division heads aren't making a bigger deal out of this than it is.

I can't say that what they did was legal -- you may need to speak to an employment specialist about this but I'm not sure if he/she will say anything different. I have seen some cases like these but the important aspect is whether the employer is within the guidelines of law and their own guidelines.
 
Michael,

snip......
"and wonder why your division heads aren't making a bigger deal out of this than it is"

While I can not address with completely certainity the "why" , I can report a few of the more "polite" propositions put forth by fellow employees..............

* All our division heads/ middle as well as upper management staff are employed at the other location. So, this isn't an issue which affects them (their families, or their pockets) directly.

*We're "out of sight-out of mind". It's hard for many managers to "see" a problem unless it's right in front of them, day in and day out and clamoring for attention. Not looking us in the face on a daily basis ( heck, less than 1% of our management have actually been on site here) it's probably very easy for them to ignore an issue that only affects a small portion of their departmental staff. We're a small number and represent only about 5% of the total workforce employed by the company and some departments aren't even represented at our location.

* Greed

* General management apathy

So while I can't begin to examine or understand the motives of our management , I can state with the utmost certainity that this is a demoralizing issue. It carrries a strong strench of disrespect and it's permeated every corner of our location.

Regards,

C
 
Originally posted by chelsea:
"and wonder why your division heads aren't making a bigger deal out of this than it is" ..... All our division heads/ middle as well as upper management staff are employed at the other location. So, this isn't an issue which affects them (their families, or their pockets) directly.
But who is in charge of your facility in WV? Are you saying that different locations in WV are being treated differently than others?

Regarding corporations... I'm not quite sure that they always function as a benefit to the investors as they do to those who control the money the investors invested! :rolleyes:
 
Michael,

*Only two locations total - one WV and the other TX

*All management (Manager-VP-Pres-CEO-CFO, etc.) personnel are located in TX

*All "decisions" regarding "policy" are made in TX

*All transactions of a financial nature are handled in TX

*Four departments represented in WV , only one department has a "manager" on site in WV and that individual has restricted (non-existant might be a better term) authority. The remaining three departments do not have managerial representation on site and report directly on an individual basis to TX management personnel.

* All personnel at our location have the same "problem". Our compensation package is lower/smaller/less (you pick the adjective ) :p

* Personnel at both locations (WV - TX) are insured with the same health insurance provider

" Regarding corporations... I'm not quite sure that they always
function as a benefit to the investors as they do to those who
control the money the investors invested! "

Michael...........truer words have never been spoken !

BTW: Sounds like you're "personally" acquainted with our management team ??? ;)

Regards,

C.
 
Originally posted by chelsea:
*All management (Manager-VP-Pres-CEO-CFO, etc.) personnel are located in TX
Ouch. I think we see where priority lies. ;)

" Regarding corporations... I'm not quite sure that they always function as a benefit to the investors as they do to those who control the money the investors invested! "

Michael...........truer words have never been spoken !

BTW: Sounds like you're "personally" acquainted with our management team ??? ;)
Let's say that I have some experience dealing with large corporations so I may have had experience with others who went to the same business school as your esteemed colleagues. :cool: LOL...

Good luck!! :D
 
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