It is important to know which work benefits
will be put on hold and what will stay in place. Don’t assume that
disability insurance, life insurance, or any other benefits will stay in
place while you are on leave, whether you are receiving pay from the
employer, working part time for the employer, or just on leave. It
is important to talk to your HR department so you know in advance what
benefits will stay and what will disappear while you are gone.
Generally, employers don’t have to pay the cost
of health insurance if you’re on military leave unless you’re on leave for
less than 31 days. For longer leaves, you may have COBRA rights, which may
require you to pay the full cost of your participation in your employer’s
health plan. If there are any lapses in paying any of the employer health
insurance money due, you may find that even though your employer agreed to
pay health insurance while you are on leave, your health insurance lapses
and you are pushed onto a COBRA. So, it’s very important to keep up with
all necessary payments because you may need to write checks for
the coverage since you are not receiving paychecks from your employer,
which would otherwise withhold pay and send medical insurance premiums to
the insurer.
If you have an FSA, you may find yourself in a
position in which the Heroes Earnings Assistance and Relief Act (HEART) of
2008 (H.R. 6081) waives the “use it or lose it” clause of the FSA program.
It’s important to know whether you will need to spend down any of this
money for any given period and what happens to this money if something
happens to you during deployment so all contingencies can be planned
for.
For dependent care reimbursement accounts,
remember that you will have to maintain eligibility to use this money;
otherwise, the money will no longer be available. For instance, if the
spouse who is not deployed quits their job, the family may no longer be
eligible for their dependent care reimbursement account.
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