Q: Can my employer charge me retroactively for health insurance premiums?
We are a union shop. In 2015 we signed an agreement with our company to pay into our health care plan starting on 1/01/2016. The agreement was held without any action and was not ratified until 2/2018. Now the company is planning to retroactively charge us for healthcare premiums for the intervening years.
A provision in the contract to review and offer an insurance buyout option by 09/01/2016 has not been met so we had no ability to opt out of the company provided plans and shop the open market.
Also, the planned deductions for these premiums will be done on an after tax basis.
Are they allowed to do this?
A:
Have you discussed this with your union authorities? Their legal counsel?
Have you contacted the National Labor Relations Board to inquire whether this might be an unfair labor practice by the union?
Have you reached out to private lawyers who will need to review and read ALL of the correspondence regarding the issue, including your prior, current, and related collective bargaining agreements to determine whether there might be a potential breach of the agreement? Your union is responsible for complying with those agreements and they generally do not want to defend lawsuits which allege breaches of duties they owe their members. And union members generally do not want to pay private lawyers to undertake these types of lawsuits unless the case law and contract language merit such a lawsuit.
A federal court might refuse to hear the case if it's an unfair labor practice since the National Labor Relations Board has primary jurisdiction over unfair labor practices and your agreement could have other obstacles such as mandatory arbitration which could knock you out of federal court as well.
You face a complex legal issue. Pursue some of the above options or pay for a private consultation to review ALL relevant documents.
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