Parking Fee May Be Illegal if You Need Car for Work
Q: I work for a private university that has begun charging employees to park on campus, which is in an area where there is very little parking on the street.
The university owns and operates the parking structure, and there is no debt on it. Is this parking fee legal? If so, why don’t more companies charge for parking?
--I.H., Orange
A: If you are required as an employee to use your car in doing your work, it may be illegal for your employer to charge you for parking. The law requires employers to pay for all costs incurred by an employee in performing work duties.
If you are forced to park on the street and have to arrive early, the employer may avoid parking costs but might have to provide extra compensation for your extended work time.
If you are not required to operate your vehicle as part of your job, you’re responsible for your own parking fees.
Many companies do not charge for parking, regardless of whether they require workers to have a car as part of the job. They consider it a benefit that makes employees happier with the workplace.
While your employer is not this flexible regarding parking, it may provide better benefits in other areas.
--Don D. Sessions
Employee rights attorney
Mission Viejo
Rules May Change on Overtime at Ski Resorts
Q: During the winter I work for a ski resort. Employees are told that ski resorts are exempt from paying overtime. Is this true?
--J.V., Big Bear Lake
A: Assembly Bill 60, which changed California’s overtime laws considerably on Jan. 1, directed the California Industrial Welfare Commission to study the hours worked in the ski industry to determine whether overtime requirements should be changed. The review is to be finished by July 1.
In the interim, an employee in the ski industry is eligible for overtime only after working 56 hours in one workweek during any month of the year.
--Michael A. Hood
Employment law attorney
Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker
Health Plan Premiums May Differ by Position
Q: I work for a small company (52 employees) and we have only one choice for health insurance, an HMO. I have found out that everyone pays differing amounts for the premium every month, depending on the whim of the boss.
In fact, some don’t pay anything, while I am being charged for the same coverage for the health plan. Is this legal?
--O.A., Santa Monica
A: There is no federal law that requires an employer to provide group health insurance through an HMO or otherwise. Further, if an employer opts to provide group health coverage under an insured plan through an HMO, the employer may establish this coverage--including monthly premium rates--according to the terms it negotiates with an HMO provider.
If a plan is fully insured (meaning the employer does not pay claims from a trust or from general assets), no federal law sets limits on the premium structure.
On the other hand, if a plan is self-insured, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) states that the plan may not discriminate in favor of highly compensated employees. This generally means that the top wage earners in the company cannot receive greater benefits or be charged a lesser premium under a self-insured plan than lower wage earners.
Most HMOs operate in connection with insured plans, however, so it is less likely that ERISA’s nondiscrimination requirements will apply to an HMO.
If an HMO is willing to provide coverage at a negotiated cost that differs for different employee groups, an employer may charge a different monthly premium rate to these groups. For example, an employer may charge officers one monthly rate, clerical staff another rate, and line workers a third rate. This is probably the type of arrangement that your employer’s plan follows.
Your employer is not likely to be charging different premium rates to you each month. Rather, your employer has probably set different rates based on job classification, geography, department or some other allowable method.
If the plan under which you are covered is insured, it is unlikely that the premium structure you describe is illegal. Group health plans must be established in writing in a plan document that the employer follows in administering the plan and setting premium charges.
If you still have a concern that your employer is acting improperly, you should ask to see the plan document. You have the right to examine it and copy it.
--James J. McDonald Jr.
Attorney, Fisher & Phillips
Labor law instructor, UC Irvine
