Most benefits problems we clean up start the same way. A new person was hired, everyone was busy, and the enrollment window quietly closed. Here is the checklist we run for every new hire so that does not happen.
The checklist
- Add the employee to the enrollment system.
- Record the life event, so the system knows which window applies and when it closes.
- Send the activation link so the employee can set up their account.
- Send the enrollment email with the plan choices and the deadline in plain language.
- Send a reminder partway through the window.
- Send a final reminder before the window closes.
- Record the election, enrolled or waived. A waiver is an answer and it needs to be on file.
- Enroll with the carriers and file the confirmations.
- Send the payroll deduction summary to HR so the first deduction is right.
Nine steps, and the order matters. Skipping step two is the most common miss, because without the recorded event the window dates float. Skipping step seven is the most expensive, because a person who never answered is not the same as a person who declined, and only one of those is easy to defend later.
Waiting periods
Before any of that runs, you need a waiting period, and you need it written down. The options employers commonly choose are:
- Date of hire, coverage starts the day they start.
- First of the month after 30 days.
- First of the month after 60 days.
- Ninety days.
Date of hire is the friendliest to recruit against and the busiest to administer, because every start date creates its own effective date. The first of the month options are the easiest to run payroll against, because everything lands on the same day. Ninety days is the longest most carriers will allow for a new hire.
Whichever one you choose, apply it the same way to everyone. The waiting period is a rule about the job, not about the person. Waiving it for a candidate you really want, and holding it for the next hire, is the kind of exception that creates a problem you will be explaining a year later. If you want a different rule for a different class of employee, say a rule for full time salaried and another for full time hourly, that can often be written into the plan properly. Do it on paper, not by hand, one person at a time.
What we do
When you send us a new hire, we run every step above and file the confirmations. You get the payroll summary, the employee gets the reminders, and nobody spends a Friday afternoon trying to reopen a closed window.
Call the office with a new hire and we will start the clock the same day.