SCA Contract and Employee Benefits

[dcfan]

First I would like to say I have very limited knowledge of the SCA. I am military retiree and working on an AFB for a Defense Contractor. I found out via email that they are making all employees purchase health, dental, life ins., and disability insurance with our Health and Welfare benefit without option. I pay for Tricare Prime and now it is my secondary coverage. I am paying $350 a month for the employer's benefit package.

Question: When I was hired, I was told I would receive Cash in Lieu of the benefits. Can this be changed and with only one week's notice?

Question: Prime and Sub have employees working side by side, both have different benefits packages and costs and options? Is this a company's choice and not based on anything written in the contract?

I did read the SCA regarding how the Health and Welfare payment can be paid in cash, benefits or both. But I can't find anything telling me that I do not have a choice.

The employer is telling us that it is what is best for the company (bottom line is more like it). Employees have raised concerns and no change is likely.

***I would like to know if anyone else has had this happen and did they work out any change with the employer.

Thank you!

[Guest carl r culham]

Nuances of your employment agreement/contract and the specific wage determination might have some effect but generally speaking the answer to your question is "Yes" the employer can decide. The details on notification are better answered by a DOL-SCA expert. "Yes" there can be differences between contracted workforce individuals sitting side by side. Here is a reference that might help you.

http://www.dol.gov/whd/recovery/pwrb/Tab10SCACompliance.pdf

After reading through it and you still have questions I would strongly suggest that you contact your employer, the DOL or both to get clarification to understand your specific situation better.

[dcfan]

Nuances of your employment agreement/contract and the specific wage determination might have some effect but generally speaking the answer to your question is "Yes" the employer can decide. The details on notification are better answered by a DOL-SCA expert. "Yes" there can be differences between contracted workforce individuals sitting side by side. Here is a reference that might help you.

http://www.dol.gov/whd/recovery/pwrb/Tab10SCACompliance.pdf

After reading through it and you still have questions I would strongly suggest that you contact your employer, the DOL or both to get clarification to understand your specific situation better.

Thank you for the information. I contacted the DOL and was informed that they can make this decision. I just hoped I could find something that would allow me to opt out of the Health Care portion of the benefit package.

[GovCon 3rd Decade]

Thank you for the information. I contacted the DOL and was informed that they can make this decision. I just hoped I could find something that would allow me to opt out of the Health Care portion of the benefit package.

To dcfan - I agree with what you found, that this decision is made by the employer, to pay you cash or provide the required benefits, but that is not to say it cannot be changed. One of my clients is currently reviewing their current choice and considering the options.

So, to the extent your employer wants to keep employees happy, it might be worth mentioning your preference in a suggestion box.

I think, but won't swear to it, that the disadvantage to paying cash is that the company incurs additional payroll tax on the amounts,

aside from that, I think paying cash is much easier for employers than providing benefits but then employees are not covered either.

I am no expert on SCA, and yours may differ, but above is my understanding from having done alot of reading up on this recently.