I’m wondering if I’m able to transition as a full-time employee if I would be able to enroll immediately in health insurance or if I would have to wait for the open enrollment period.
Edit: I am not contracted through a temp agency. It’s a temporary position with the company.
Under the law of Saudi Arabia…
I’m pretty sure this is going to be jurisdiction dependent.
It entirely depends on the specific company’s policies.
The company I work for hires people through a temp-to-hire program. As a temp, you are not eligible for benefits. The moment you get hired full-time, though, you are.
I’ve also worked for companies where you have to be employed for 6 months or a year before you are eligible for benefits.
It entirely depends on the company. This is not an question anyone here can answer. You need to talk to HR.
You need to talk to HR at the company you work for.
If only I was aware of this community I would’ve posted there. Will do so next time!
In my experience it has depended more on the employer than anything else. Some will make you wait, others will say “you’re good”.
It’s something you’ll need to ask the temp agency you’re currently employed by and the company you are assigned to by the temp agency.
I should have specified that my job isn’t through an agency but directly with the company.
In this case it wouldn’t change anything. You would still need to ask the company. They might make you wait 30, 60 or 90 days or they might not.
Although, I didn’t ask where you are, and in this case it is relevant, as my answer is based on employment practices in the USA.
And no, open enrollment wouldn’t be relevant in this case, at least in the US. Changing employment status is generally considered a qualifying life event.
Matches with what others have said here. Thanks for confirming!
Open enrollment doesn’t apply if you have a change of life event
In this case there’s no life event.
Employment change is a life event
Moving into an eligible class of employees, e.g. working for the company and being full-time 30 hrs+/week (or whatever their benefit criteria are) is an event that allows for enrollment with insurers outside of the once per year Open Enrollment which is for existing, ongoing, already eligible an/or enrolled employees for the next plan year.
A waiting period for the start of the benefits, as others have mentioned, once being eligible, may apply to all new employees, e.g. first of next month/30/60 days. As someone who was associated with the company through a 3rd party already there may be separate or less criteria allowing you to enroll sooner than a normal new hire, or you may have the same waiting period. It all depends on the plan design which varies by company but has to meet federal minimum standards thanks to the affordable care act/Obamacare.
This is definitely a question for HR, but generally an employment change is a “life event”.
I see! Thanks for the info.
Changing employment status is a qualifying event or whatever it’s called, so assuming the company offers its employees coverage immediately on hiring (not all do), you shouldn’t have to wait for open enrollment. However, while health coverage is a common benefit of employment, it’s not universal and policies vary by employer. That is: ask the company, or if for some reason you don’t want to ask, get a copy of the employee handbook, maybe by asking one of your co-workers for it. The info for the particular company is likely to be in there.
