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saypoint
09-22-2013, 12:49 PM
New here, so hi and thanks in advance to anyone who can advise. My husband and I own a small manufacturing facility. For the first 6 years we relied on full or part time labor consisting of various family members, kids, etc. but did most of the work ourselves. Last year we added a business unit that requires employing around 5 people at relatively low wages, ie. $10-12 per hour. We'd like to offer benefits, but until we can ramp up our volumes, we do not offer insurance or paid holidays, and I don't know when or if doing more will be possible.
The problem is that we just hired a "team leader" to help keep the work organized and moving, do shipping paperwork, set up jobs, instruct workers on new tasks, and keep track of productivity and efficiency. We did this to take some of the pressure off of me when my husband travels and I am left to deal with everything on my own. Plus I'm not getting any younger.
She is young and inexperienced, but is doing a decent job so far, though she has a lot to learn about business, productivity, HR issues, dealing with unexpected things that come up, etc. Because she has some useful experience with the more hands-on part of the work, we had to give her a higher wage and health insurance to get her to leave her last job. We'll be paying half of her COBRA for the immediate future until we figure out how to make the new health laws work. We also gave her a certain number of paid holidays.

Is there an issue with not giving the other employees similar benefits? Is her "class" different enough to meet the requirements? She is non-exempt.
Thanks
saypoint

Freelancier
09-22-2013, 01:32 PM
Many of these laws are state-by-state, so specifying which state might help get a more accurate answer.

Have you contacted your insurance broker? They are the ones who know your state's laws inside and out.

saypoint
09-22-2013, 04:08 PM
Many of these laws are state-by-state, so specifying which state might help get a more accurate answer.

Have you contacted your insurance broker? They are the ones who know your state's laws inside and out.

Thanks, that's probably a good idea. I'm going to have to talk to them about the new laws soon anyway. I'm in CT.