Is it normal for a company to start health care benefits a month after joining?
Hi,
I am in the offer stages for a job. The recruiter mentioned that benefits would go in effect on the first of the month. If I am joining mid-June, my health care benefits would go in effect in July. Is this normal?
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Discussion
(3 comments)- 1
6 months agoTech Lead @ Robinhood, Meta, Course HeroNo. Benefits are supposed to kick in instantly.
The 1st of the month policy (at least in a normal tech company) is supposed to help you in the reverse direction. If you're leaving a company, health insurance should last for the entire month that you're leaving as long as you worked for at least the 1st of the month.
I left Robinhood very early January 2022 instead of late December or something so I could have healthcare for that entire month having just worked 1 business day there.
Zooming out, this isn't a huge downside assuming the rest of the offer is competitive, but it's definitely kind of awkward (especially if you live in the US where our healthcare system is straight garbage) and at least a yellow flag. If you have other offers that aren't weird like this one, this is a major reason to take those instead.
- 06 months agoSenior Software Engineer [OP]Taro Community
Hi Alex, Thank you for the response. I don't have any other offers currently. This company is in health care industry. This offer gives a good increase in salary and some other benefits which I don't have in my current job. I am looking at this job as a "stepping stone".
The recruiter is asking me if I can start June 3. Below is a sequence if I join the new company:
As per my current company policy, I would get health care benefits until the June 15th, and then I have to buy an expensive plan (COBRA) for the rest of June. Health insurance benefit at the new company would start July 1. They also mentioned that PTO and sick time would be available after the first 3 months. If I have to take any PTO or sick time before that, it would be unpaid. And yes, this is a US based company I am posting above.
These above policies seem a bit off to me.
- 1
6 months agoFriendly TarodactylTaro CommunityI’d not say it’s abnormal. One of my internship’s insurance start on the first of the month as well. It’s a Fortune 500 company.
I googled around and many other people don’t have medical insurance on the first day of employment. https://www.reddit.com/r/usajobs/s/nuGoon7aVz
Big tech really raised the bar for benefits and compensation, but they could still have opportunities for improvement.
Amazon 401K match has 3 year vesting period. Citadel does it as well.
