10 thoughts on “Über-style Childcare Service Offers Final Solution to the 1099 Worker Benefit Problem: $500/year for Health Insurance, Transportation, or Education. Happy Now, Whiners?”
Haha, "concrete if limited":
In one of the earliest moves to bring employee benefits to workers in the so-called gig economy, an online marketplace that connects millions of families with babysitters, nannies and caregivers announced on Wednesday that it would provide up to $500 a year for workers to use for health care, transportation or education expenses.
The new benefit will be offered by Care.com to the caregivers who provide its services. It represents a concrete, if limited, approach to a problem that has long bedeviled workers who receive income from multiple sources: Employers or clients — often individuals or families — rarely have deep enough pockets to fund the employee benefits that larger companies typically offer.
$500 won't even cover the cost of one class at UCLA Extension FFS. This isn't a benefit, it's a deflection on the part of the businesses who are profiting from the exploitation gig economy.
Um, as somebody who has spent quite a bit of time in HR IT administration, I don't think it's giving any industry secrets away to say that on one single type of benefit, let's say Dental, for a single employee (i.e. unmarried, no family), the corporate share of a very basic insurance/policy coverage is easily 4 times that amount per employee per year. Probably more like 10 times that amount for any decent plan. And that's just for one benefit out of the list of typically-offered coverage at more companies I've looked at.
Henghgngh, maybe in big corporations. In my little company we paid $800/month towards whatever plan(s) the employee wanted from the range of things offered by Blue Cross of Collifornya, and they could make up any overage. The childless young single people were getting sponge baths and valet parking at the clinic, whereas the people with kids thought I was a monster because there was a $5 co-pay for weekly pediatrician visits their little darlings.
The insurance companies offer better rates to big companies; it's just one of the many ways our healthcare finance system is still a big mess.
Of all the private employers that promised me health insurance, the only one that followed through was Mammoth Mountain, and they mandated it but didn't pay for it. They wanted us covered to protect themselves. Being a ski resort, they knew a certain percentage of us would break bones every year and didn't want any liability. Having a basket full of pre-existing conditions, it quickly became clear that the only way I'd get covered was to swallow my pride and go to work for the gummint.
Unless you're working as 1099 contractor, if you get hurt on the job it's the employer's responsibility to take care of you. That's what workmans' comp is for.
Not talking about work-related, which I have more than a passing knowledge of, but off-the-clock skiing injuries. The mountain could be found partially liable, even though there's lots of fine print stating otherwise, so they just forced their seasonal employees to buy catastrophic coverage through their preferred carrier. Don't like it? Work somewhere else. Hey, it was something!
Edit: This was in the 1970's, I have no idea how they operate anymore.
Haha, "concrete if limited":
Limited? $500 can be gone in the blink of an eye. New patient fee, extensive exam with a metabolic panel? Gone.
so much for education or transportation
$500 won't even cover the cost of one class at UCLA Extension FFS. This isn't a benefit, it's a deflection on the part of the businesses who are profiting from the
exploitationgig economy.Um, as somebody who has spent quite a bit of time in HR IT administration, I don't think it's giving any industry secrets away to say that on one single type of benefit, let's say Dental, for a single employee (i.e. unmarried, no family), the corporate share of a very basic insurance/policy coverage is easily 4 times that amount per employee per year. Probably more like 10 times that amount for any decent plan. And that's just for one benefit out of the list of typically-offered coverage at more companies I've looked at.
Henghgngh, maybe in big corporations. In my little company we paid $800/month towards whatever plan(s) the employee wanted from the range of things offered by Blue Cross of Collifornya, and they could make up any overage. The childless young single people were getting sponge baths and valet parking at the clinic, whereas the people with kids thought I was a monster because there was a $5 co-pay for weekly pediatrician visits their little darlings.
The insurance companies offer better rates to big companies; it's just one of the many ways our healthcare finance system is still a big mess.
Midsize companies, although I should also factor in plan competition for highly-sought employees and Northeast prices.
Of all the private employers that promised me health insurance, the only one that followed through was Mammoth Mountain, and they mandated it but didn't pay for it. They wanted us covered to protect themselves. Being a ski resort, they knew a certain percentage of us would break bones every year and didn't want any liability. Having a basket full of pre-existing conditions, it quickly became clear that the only way I'd get covered was to swallow my pride and go to work for the gummint.
Unless you're working as 1099 contractor, if you get hurt on the job it's the employer's responsibility to take care of you. That's what workmans' comp is for.
Not talking about work-related, which I have more than a passing knowledge of, but off-the-clock skiing injuries. The mountain could be found partially liable, even though there's lots of fine print stating otherwise, so they just forced their seasonal employees to buy catastrophic coverage through their preferred carrier. Don't like it? Work somewhere else. Hey, it was something!
Edit: This was in the 1970's, I have no idea how they operate anymore.