When it comes to offering group health insurance to employees, many small businesses struggle. Not only is it a process that is lengthy and time-consuming, it can be costly to maintain.

Many individuals are being sent for training abroad or are given on-the-job training to help them learn new things and improve productivity. Equip that with health insurance benefits, small businesses are unable to afford a proper care plan for their employees.

This forces them to cut back costs which can leave a negative impression on the organization’s workforce. But the one question that employers often wonder and ask is, “Is it possible to provide health insurance to specific employees only?”

What You Should Know

This is a question that has been asked by small businesses for quite some time. Is it legal to offer certain benefits to certain employees? The answer is yes and no.

You can offer different benefits to different employees of certain positions, but not if it’s discriminatory.

For example: if employee A is a manager and employee B is also a manager, and you offer employee A free vision and dental, while employee B only gets discounted healthcare, it’s considered discriminatory.

Both are employees of the same organization and both are employed at the same level in the company.

This can turn into a legal case as employee B can take legal action against the company for discriminating. Furthermore, you cannot offer certain type of healthcare based on gender (diabetes prevention, vision and dental treatments etc.) except for things like maternity leaves.

Legal Rights of Businesses

Currently, there are no federal laws that state that you have to offer healthcare to all employees, including part-timers. The Affordable Care Act aims to prevent businesses from offering better healthcare to individuals in high positions, the truth is that businesses have a lot of freedom and can structure their healthcare plans accordingly.

However, it is also true that it is illegal to base these structures on discriminatory basis. Furthermore, businesses can cut down their costs by restricting/limiting services for:

  • Senior employees
  • Part-timers
  • Salaried or hourly workers
  • Employees of different positions
  • Employees working out of state

In addition, all employees must be treated equally by law. In a nutshell, it’s important to take these points into consideration if you’re planning to develop a program for healthcare.

You can consult an HR policy and employee benefits firm to learn more.

We are an HR consultancy agency in Delaware. Feel free to contact us at (877) 355 – 6070 if you’re looking for a second opinion and advice. You can also go through our employee benefits plans to learn more about how we can help you build a better future for your organization and its employees.