Create a Smoother Benefits Enrollment for Your Employees, HR Team, and Payroll Managers
Annual enrollment brings employee questions, deadlines, and administrative details into an already busy HR schedule. Whether your enrollment window has just opened or is nearing its deadline, these five checks can help you identify unfinished tasks and prepare for the new benefits year.
As you work through these checks, remember that we are always here to help you.
1. Know Who Still Needs to Take Action
An employee who started enrollment may not have submitted their elections. Review enrollment reports regularly to identify employees who have not started, find unfinished submissions, and spot missing dependent information. Confirm whether employees declining coverage need to submit a waiver.
Send targeted reminders to spur employees into action. Consider specific messages that highlight:
- What the employee still needs to complete
- The deadline, including the time and time zone
- Where to find instructions or get help
Consider employees on leave, working remotely, or spending their shifts away from a computer. Email alone may not reach everyone. Make a plan to securely communicate with employees who won’t see email reminders.
2. Explain What Happens If Employees Do Nothing
Employees who want to keep their current benefits may assume no action is necessary. Confirm your enrollment rules and explain which elections carry forward, which require action, and what happens if someone misses the deadline.
Consider altering blanket statements such as “your benefits will stay the same.” Health coverage may continue, but employee contributions or voluntary programs may require re-enrollment or confirmation of changes.
Highlight benefits that require a new election. Employees generally must elect their health flexible spending arrangement contribution each year, even when unused funds are eligible to carry over.
Include a short “If you take no action” explanation in enrollment reminders. Ask your benefits advisor or administrator to verify that it accurately reflects your plans.
3. Highlight Changes Employees Should Review
Give employees a concise summary of changes to contributions, deductibles, copayments, provider networks, and prescription coverage. Employees keeping the same plan should still review what will change.
Encourage them to evaluate total out-of-pocket costs based on their anticipated healthcare needs, rather than only comparing their payroll deductions.
Link to current plan documents and explain how to verify provider participation and prescription coverage. Clear comparisons and access to knowledgeable benefits professionals can help employees make informed decisions.
When employees ask which plan to choose, help them find reliable information and qualified support. For questions about specific treatments, medications, or coverage requirements, direct employees to the carrier or appropriate benefits resource.
4. Verify Coverage Selections and Paycheck Deductions
Work with your benefits advisor and payroll team to make sure employees’ benefit selections are accurately recorded and sent to the insurance companies.
Check that the information includes the correct plans, covered family members, coverage start dates, and employee costs. Confirm who will follow up on missing information or enrollment errors.
Some checks will happen after enrollment closes. Once the new benefits begin, review the first applicable payroll deductions to make sure employees are being charged the correct amounts.
5. Give Employees Clear Next Steps
Ask employees to review and save their election confirmations, double-checking selected benefits, covered dependents, effective dates, and displayed costs. Explain what to do if something appears incorrect.
Tell employees when and how to access ID cards, carrier portals, and benefit accounts. If you are changing carriers, provide instructions for accessing the new coverage and getting help with transition questions.
Publish these instructions in an accessible location after enrollment closes, rather than relying solely on a final email. These questions won’t just arise for your team at enrollment time.
Get Help with Your Enrollment Checklist
Whether you’re working through final details or helping employees understand their options, we’re here to support you. Contact our office to talk through your questions and help your team get ready for the new benefits year.
