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Upon termination of employment,
some workers and their families (who might otherwise lose their health
benefits) have the right to choose to continue group health benefits provided
by their group health plan for limited periods of time. Employers may also be
required to provide notices to their employees under the
Consolidated Omnibus Budget
Reconciliation Act (COBRA) and the
Health Insurance Portability
and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Also, for information on health insurance
coverage under the Family Medical
Leave Act (FMLA) upon termination, see
29 CFR 825.209(f).
Workers who are unemployed through no fault of their own (as
determined under state law), and meet other eligibility requirements, may be
eligible to receive unemployment benefits. Unemployment insurance payments
(benefits) are intended to provide temporary financial assistance to unemployed
workers who meet the requirements of state law. Under the
Federal-State
Unemployment Insurance Program, each state administers a separate
unemployment insurance program within guidelines established by federal law.
See Unemployment
Insurance.
Equal employment
opportunity (EEO) laws prohibit specific types of employment
discrimination. Collectively, these laws prohibit discrimination in most
workplaces on the basis of age,
race, color, religion, sex,
ethnic/national origin,
disability, and
veteran status. In
general, if the reason for termination is not because of discrimination on
these bases, or because of the employee's protected status as a whistleblower,
or because they were involved in a complaint filed under one of the laws
enforced by the Department of Labor (see
Whistleblower and
Non-Retaliation Protections), then the termination is subject only to any
private contract between the employer and employee or a labor contract between
the employer and those covered by the labor contract.
Protecting the employment rights of veterans is a responsibility
of DOL's Veterans' Employment and Training Service (VETS).
VETS protects service members' reemployment rights when they are returning from
a period of service through its administration of the
Uniformed Services Employment and
Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA).
Compliance
assistance materials regarding termination issues are available from the
Office of Compliance Assistance Policy's Web site.
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