OT - Is this normal for a payroll dept?

[Susan2771]

Is it normal for a payroll dept to take anywhere between 3-5 months to decide whether or not to reinstate an employee's health and dental benefits? Thanks.

 

[OntFamily]

Without some other background details, it is difficult to give a proper answer. However, usually things like heath benefits are straightforward for an HR department to decide. 3 - 5 months seems like a long time for a decision.

 

[Susan2771]

Well the details are that I am on leave without pay. While on leave, I can still be a part of the health and dental plan as long as I submit post dated cheques for the time I am on leave and I have to pay monthly the employee's portion and the employer's portion.

Sooooo, apparently I only submitted 24 cheques that covered me up to the end of Feb 2008. I completely forgot at the beginning of January to submit another 24 cheques because I am on leave until Feb 2009. I noticed in the beginning of June that no payments were being cashed. Why I didn't notice until June is because they never cashed the cheques on a monthly basis. They would cash 4 or 5 at a time and then a few months go by and then again a whole bunch at a time. I called HR in the beginning of this month and they said I hadn't sent in any cheques. Of course, it would have been nice for someone to email, call, write, just a little something to let me know that they had cashed my last cheque, and hey, do you still want health/dental benefits sine you are on leave for another year? But no one did. They just go ahead and cancel my benefits.
I sent in cheques back in the beginning of June to cover the months I missed up until Feb of 2009 but again I notice nothing has been cashed but they did receive them 5 weeks ago. I called and was told that the payroll dept takes months to make a decision whether or not to reinstate my policy. The HR dept won't get an answer until maybe the end of Sept and it takes even longer to get an answer for my dental. It involves A LOT of paperwork. Which of course is interesting because the insurance companies were told the first week of March to cancel my coverage. I guess not much paper is needed for that decision
I wonder if this is normal in other companies to take this long to reinstate. It also kind of bothers me that if they decide to go ahead and reinstate my coverage, I still have to pay for the coverage from March until Sept (if it is even decided by then), but I can't use any of my benefits. It's completely $$$ wasted and I got nothing for it yet that time frame will cost me hundreds of dollars. Does that make any sense?? I guess it's like paying for a plane ticket and then being told, sorry you can't fly or get your money back.
Yes, it was my fault for not sending in more cheques in time and I feel like such a ding dong. What's even worse for this ding dong is that more than likely, if this gets worked out in Sept, they are going to cash 14 cheques to cover March until Sept all at once
Sorry this was so long.

 

[NikP]

In order to speed up the process, call them daily for updates. Remind them that you would have caught this error sooner, if they had been cashing your cheques in a timely manner. Also retell your story and demand you get your benefits back and send in cheques for coverage starting September 1. Give them a letter stating if the cheques are cashed your benefits must be reinstated, or you will be sending them the bill for medical expenses. Also, document every phone call you make. eg. time, date, persons name you talked to. Tell everyone you have to regarding your unsatisfaction with the HR procedure. (Your supervisor, their supervisor etc.)

In my experiance in collecting money and dealing with people and corporations, if you hound them enough, they will deal with you in order to stop all the communication.

 

[Camilo]

In order to speed up the process, call them daily for updates. Remind them that you would have caught this error sooner, if they had been cashing your cheques in a timely manner. Also retell your story and demand you get your benefits back and send in cheques for coverage starting September 1. Give them a letter stating if the cheques are cashed your benefits must be reinstated, or you will be sending them the bill for medical expenses. Also, document every phone call you make. eg. time, date, persons name you talked to. Tell everyone you have to regarding your unsatisfaction with the HR procedure. (Your supervisor, their supervisor etc.)

In my experiance in collecting money and dealing with people and corporations, if you hound them enough, they will deal with you in order to stop all the communication.

So true for what NikP wrote above.... I would do the same thing if I were you.

It seems to me the company doesn't care about you too much, which I would understand, as you haven't worked for them for 2 years and requested another year of license.

Sorry, I think you're expecting too much for them to call you and remind you that the cheques you gave them are about to run out.

For them, it's just extra paperwork they have to deal with, for someone who's not generating any revenue. Sorry if this "sounds" tough, but this is likely how they are analyzing this situation.

Camilo

 

[F4disneyfan]

I know with our work we can change add etc to our benefits only 1 time a year and if we don't they can exclude us from teh benefits program and it will take you a year to get back in. So 5 months seems normal to me and what I have dealt with.

 

[Susan2771]

So true for what NikP wrote above.... I would do the same thing if I were you.

It seems to me the company doesn't care about you too much, which I would understand, as you haven't worked for them for 2 years and requested another year of license.

Sorry, I think you're expecting too much for them to call you and remind you that the cheques you gave them are about to run out.

For them, it's just extra paperwork they have to deal with, for someone who's not generating any revenue. Sorry if this "sounds" tough, but this is likely how they are analyzing this situation.

Camilo

I work for the public sector and not a single person that works for my dept is making a profit for them. They also could have denied my request to entend my leave of absence if it would have been a hardship for my office. The decision is there's, I just made the request.
It sounds to me that it would have cost them a lot less in manpower to have just sent 1 email or a 60 second phone call letting me know they didn't have anymore cheques in my file compared to whatever happens now and the mountain of paperwork and red tape it takes to decide whether or not to reinstate the benefits.

 

[disneydreamgirl]

Was any life insurance still in place on your benefits? If so, your employer is required to send you information on converting that life insurance within a period of time. Your situation sounds dodgy to me...sounds like someone messed up and it may be worth talking to someone higher up. (I read your thread earlier today, so if you already have done this...sorry!) Have you tried calling the carrier directly to see if your benefits are still in place? If not, I would try to get as much information from your file from them, especially if any very recent changes have been made. Good luck to you!