Students in Co-op program

[jkharvey]

I was wondering if anyone has seen an employer who participates in a student co-op program. These are apparently students who receive college credit for the work they perform at the employer. The employer is paying them on a W2, but is telling us that they are not "allowed" to provide them benefits, and therefore have not considered them for participation in the plan. This is a Plan that has only a 6 month eligibility requirement, so there is a chance some of these students would meet eligibility. The Plan does NOT currently have a specific exclusion for these students. Does anyone else have a Plan in this situation and how do you handle the students?

Thank you

[masteff]

1) Not "allowed" by who? I presume it's not a unionized plan? We had a union where the CBA excluded its trainee work program from benefits.

2) Does the plan have an age 21 requirement? It might be hidden under a different heading than eligible service and excluded persons.

3) Could anything in the hiring paperwork signed by the students constitute a waiver to benefits? (I don't know the exact rules on such waivers, but they can be valid if done properly.)

It's also possible that someone has taken a different exclusion, perhaps from a group insurance plan, and wrongly assumed it extends to all other benefits.

At a previous employer, we had this exact issue (but w/ 12 month eligibility). If the students did a 2nd internship or were hired full time, because they'd have a break in service of less than year (resulting in the break being ignored), they would enter the plan either immediately or very quickly. A fresh copy of the SPD was usually enough to educate the appropriate managers..

[Bill Presson]

Our parent company is a CPA firm. We hire interns all the time. Our eligibility for deferrals is first of the calendar quarter after hire, but our plan excludes interns not expected to work for more than 4 months. (match, etc is 1 year).

We just have to test the coverage and if they do work more than 1000 hours in 12 months, they become eligible for the deferral and match. Some are hired for multiple internships, so this happens from time to time.

I would think most large CPA or other professional firms recruiting colleges pretty hard would have something similar.

BTW, I've never heard the "not allowed to provide benefits" excuse. Nice.