HR Sticklers Lead to Stories

A benefits package can be important to any new hire or potential employee you are trying to work for you. Unfortunately, problems can arise for workers and their families over things such as insurance.

According to a recent story in Computer World,a worker who had signed on with a prominent pharmaceutical company and after he had gone through his onboarding process, he signed up for health insurance for him and his wife. The company’s HR department wanted “proof” that they were actually, legally married.

The couple’s marriage certificate was in a safety deposit box at their bank. However, because both he and his wife worked during the day during the week and the bank didn’t have Saturday hours, it created a problem for them to retrieve it.

After coverage for a routine doctor’s visit by his wife being declined, this employee checked in with HR. Their response was that even though common law marriage was recognized in the state and the couple had been together for the acceptable number of years to establish such a union, he had not provided the proper proof of marriage. Not even jointly filed tax returns were enough “proof”. They marriage certificate was the only applicable proof for HR and the insurer.

The new hire took time off to go to the bank during the day, presented the required proof to HR, and returned it to the bank the following day.

It can be a difficult job for any HR professional to juggle the needs of the company and the employee. Every situation is different and often those in HR have to be able to figuratively dance and juggle at the same time.

At EinsteinHR, we know that it’s important that after your company finds the right candidate to fill the job, onboarding them should be as smooth as possible. We can be there to help you get new hires up to speed as we as answering the questions you might have about health insurance, retirement, and all other benefits you offer to your workers. Whatever your human resource need is we have the years of experience to give you answers that can work for your organization.

Whether it’s finding the right candidate for the right job or making the most out of your human resource capital, we have solutions for your small or medium sized business.