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Health Insurance for Grooms

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  • #1

    Health Insurance for Grooms

    Hi everyone! I am wondering if any of you have worked as a groom or are a trainer that has a groom(s). Is health insurance part of your package? If not, does this seem to be the industry standard? Thanks for your input!
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  • #2
    I have very rarely seen any barn employee be provided with health insurance in the US. The few who d also typically paid well and treated their employees very well, and rarely have openings! It's definitely not common to provide insurance for your employees in this industry.
    exploring the relationship between horse and human

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    • #3
      Very rare for health insurance to be offered... heck, it's fairly rare for grooms to be paid on the books, never mind receiving benefits.
      **********
      We move pretty fast for some rabid garden snails.
      -PaulaEdwina

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      • #4
        Very uncommon unfortunately. I worked for a place that promised it when I interviewed and never came through (which would have been fine if they had just said, we cannot provide health insurance...but no!). I went for about two years without it. The only word to describe those two years was - extremely, insanely lucky that I did not get hurt seriously.

        I would strongly, strongly recommend against taking a job with horses that did not provide it or did not pay you enough to buy at least some basic form of it yourself. Which unfortunately cuts out an extremely strong majority of horse-related jobs. Horses are dangerous critters, and even when you do everything right, things can go terribly wrong. I would be quite impressed with any operation that did actually provide health insurance for their employees and would hope that would be representative of their overall view towards the staff. Just my experience...

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        • #5
          Originally posted by Lucassb View Post
          Very rare for health insurance to be offered... heck, it's fairly rare for grooms to be paid on the books, never mind receiving benefits.
          Bingo...

          Sad, but true.

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          • #6
            While health insurance is about as common as a white rhinoceros, you do have a good chance of getting workman's compensation. If your employer pays you "on the books" and gives you a W-2, then they probably do have workman's compensation insurance. If they pay you with a 1099 ("independent contract") then probably/possibly not.

            The cost of "workman's comp" insurance is one of the big reasons employers do NOT pay on the books. It ups the cost of an employee by A LOT. What the employer gets in return is a situation where it would be virtually impossible for the employee to sue them for injuries incurred on the job.

            I have known at least 2 people injured in situations that did have "workman's comp." Mind you, the medical bills were taken care of, but in one situation the employer was not willing to hire her back to her old job. They had to give her "some" job if they could, so they put her behind a desk. But her days as instructor/trainer were over at that business. They figured if she couldn't stay on a bucking horse she was no good to them.

            The other employee was a farm manager/mucker type and he was kicked in the face while handling a horse on the ground. He did get his original position back, and the employers were t VERY grateful they had the 'on the books' arrangements. He was out of work for 6 weeks or so. EVERY person who works on their farm is "on the books" and covered by workman's comp.

            I've also known 2 other people injured without any kind of health insurance or workman's comp. One person got the bill covered under "charity care," the other had to file for bankruptcy.

            Is that the total # of people I know personally who've gotten injured ? Heck no. I know one woman who will be in a wheel chair the rest of her life and 2 other people who got broken arms when the got kicked while hand grazing.

            I probably know more, but that's all I can think of right now.

            Moral of the story ?? Try very hard to find a position that has workman's comp if you can.
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            • #7
              California: Worker's Comp is 32% of groom's salary. Yeah.

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              • #8
                Originally posted by Lucassb View Post
                Very rare for health insurance to be offered... heck, it's fairly rare for grooms to be paid on the books, never mind receiving benefits.
                Or if they are paid on the books, they're "independent contractors" (whether they should be or not) and they get nothing and have to pay a ton in taxes since they're technically self-employed. I see this get abused a lot in the horse industry.

                Originally posted by Isabeau Z Solace View Post
                They figured if she couldn't stay on a bucking horse she was no good to them.
                Yes, because only bad riders fall off. (not directed at you Isabeau, at the farm owners!)
                exploring the relationship between horse and human

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                • #9
                  My horses are at a farm where every employee is covered by workman's comp. No cash employees. The farm owner (and BNT) did find health insurance for everyone -though the deductable is ridiculous. Better than nothing! I wouldn't ride with someone who poorly treats an employee.
                  One of my fellow boarders gives free financial advice to the barn "help." Most make very little, but he has helped them all buy houses, understand and use credit opportunities, and set up retirement plans. Never have I heard of a horse owner doing that! The grooms (and general farm help) stay for years. A rare thing I've been told.

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                  • #10
                    This boils down to the ridiculous price of health care in America! Illegals get all the health care they need for free yet we who work HARD, pay taxes, etc can't afford it!

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                    • #11
                      I used to work at a barn that did offer insurance, but they are definitely a rare exception.
                      "Is it ignorance or apathy? Hey, I don't know and I don't care." ~Jimmy Buffett

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                      • #12
                        Originally posted by copper1 View Post
                        This boils down to the ridiculous price of health care in America! Illegals get all the health care they need for free yet we who work HARD, pay taxes, etc can't afford it!
                        Well this is a little blunt for me.

                        But I can't deny that when little ole' uninsured me was seriously injured I had a pretty hard time coping. (They came after me hard.) BUT I know barn workers of, (I will attempt to politely say) 'questionable' legal status who wound up in the hospital and were, literally, waved through the exit ("oh, we'll just write it off as charity care" said the nurse on the way out.)

                        I can't deny these two very different situations are pretty painful do deal with. I'm an American with a credit history and a driver's license, so they had information to pursue. Undocumented workers afforded the hospitals no information to follow up on, so they (basically) got treated and breezed right on through.


                        Ouch.
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                        • Original Poster
                          #13
                          Thanks everyone for your input! If you are a trainer or barn owner/manager, is health insurance something you would like to offer but can't afford? If you are a groom, is an individual plan too expensive? (not much of a salary, so I'm guessing that's the answer!) If you are a groom, how important do you think health insurance is? (assuming you are covered by workman's comp for job related accidents - what about yearly exams and general health?)

                          thanks again for the input!

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                          • #14
                            I worked F/T as a BM/Groom for a H/J stable. No health insurance was offered.

                            Ended up needing emergency surgery for a burst appendix. Thank GOD I was still on my Mom's plan, or I would have been screwed financially for a long time.

                            It's not just a matter of being careful/lucky and not getting hurt. Medical problems happen no matter what....I would have never imagined I'd go from stomachache one day, to hospital room the next.

                            That was one of the many reasons I quit, and went to the corporate world...better benefits, better pay, and still get to enjoy horses in my free time.
                            <3 Vinnie <3
                            1992-2010
                            Jackie's Punt ("Bailey") My Finger Lakes Finest Thoroughbred

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