Should you be reading this, chances are your organization has recently gone through the process of Open Enrollment for employee benefits.
If it went well for you, congratulations! Keep up the good work—and start preparing for next year right now.
If things didn't go so well, then don't worry. You're not alone. Many employers struggle with the annual Open Enrollment process, and many of them have the exact same problems as you.
Top 5 Open Enrollment Headaches
Prior to launching my career in HR, I spent 10 years running the finance function of a large, dynamic company, and I can relate to your pain on many levels. In fact, do any of the scenarios below resonate with you?
1. Trying to deal with benefits changes during the holidays
Does your benefits plan year begin on January 1st? If so, then you've probably spent the holiday period worrying about enrollment while everyone is looking forward to the upcoming holidays. It's no fun to spend the last few weeks of the year trying to complete essential tasks, like ensuring that everyone receives their new benefits cards. And it's even less fun when your queries are met with Out Of Office emails.
Solution: Work with your broker and benefit provider to agree on a more agreeable timeline. Make sure that you've got plenty of time to implement changes, communicate with staff members, and deal with any unexpected situations.
2. Telling employees about a surprise rate increase
Employees get upset when essential benefits like healthcare are affected by major changes, such as face premium increases and reduced coverage. Unfortunately, these things can happen, especially when healthcare costs are rising. However, it's much worse when you spring these changes on employees at the last minute. People can feel blindsided by these changes, which can have a real effect on engagement and retention.
Solution: If your plan year starts January 1st, the benefits renewal meetings with your broker should be occurring well in advance of that date. Four to six months prior to the new plan year start date provides ample time for the stakeholders to make an informed decision and begin to communicate the upcoming changes to the employees.
3. Racing to get evidence of coverage to employees
Healthcare is a crucially important benefit. Employees need the full details of who is covered and what they're covered for—plus they need evidence that this coverage is in place! Once changes have been agreed upon, you're then in a rush to get that Evidence of Coverage out to people as quickly as possible. For many teams, this is where their benefits enrollment process starts to fall down.
Solution: Proper preparation includes a well-documented project plan to facilitate a smooth and effective Open Enrollment session. Be sure to build in enough time after the completion of the Open Enrollment session for the benefits carriers to process the enrollment data and provide access to ID cards for the employees.
4. Managing compliance
Compliance issues are a whole other topic. We would need another article just to scratch the surface of the various local, state, and federal rules that cover employee benefit enrollment. However, for HR teams, it all boils down to three essential questions. Did we follow the rules? Can we prove that we followed the rules? And, is there a more efficient way to follow the rules?
Solution: The use of technology greatly enhances the Open Enrollment experience for employees and, more importantly, helps manage the tasks associated with providing enrollment data to the carriers. Having data in a central location housed in an HRIS will help ease the burden of data gathering needed to complete the reporting. Does your broker offer a technology platform to help you do so?
5. Handling last-minute fire drills
Let's face it: the toughest part of benefits enrollment is trying to Expect The Unexpected. Errors can creep in, such as:
- Employee realizes they've made a mistake
- You make a mistake communicating with the benefits provider
- Benefits provider makes a mistake in handling requests
- A back-end error on your part, such as taking the wrong deductions from an employee's paycheck
All of these things can have real consequences, and the employee often suffers the most. It's up to you to resolve these problems as quickly as possible.
Solution: Ultimately, it's all about being prepared and communicating with your people. Ask everyone to check their new documentation, their payslips, and anything else related to benefits. If you find an error, get moving on the solution as quickly as possible. Let the affected employee know that you're working on it and set realistic expectations.
Enjoy a hassle-free employee benefits annual enrollment period next year
As someone who supports the HR function within many organizations, I know these headaches are generally avoidable. In many cases, the difference between a great experience and a disaster is the quality of the team at your benefits broker.
It also helps to have a skilled HR team, with administrators and leaders that can help create an outstanding employee experience. Need some HR expertise on your team? Book a call with Helios HR today, and let's talk about building an exceptional workplace culture.
