But why stop there? Consider creating an email template. Were sharing some sample 401K communication to employees that you can use to get your message across. Sample 3: Letter of permission for missing work due to an important matter. The benefits open enrollment period is typically the only point during the year in which your employees can make changes to their benefit electionsincluding adding or dropping coverage or dependents, switching plans, or even enrolling in benefits for the first time. Most companies operate on a calendar fiscal year. Sample 1: Excuse letter for work absence due to family matters. We are looking forward to a successful enrollment season. Russ joined FBS in 2019 after working as a valued partner for 15 years and manages our ISDs group health program. This is the time for you to [Instructions], Were excited to bring you [Detail plan options and info]. The information may not reflect the most current legal developments, may be changed without notice and is not guaranteed to be complete, correct, or up-to-date. 1 NOTICE TO ALL EMPLOYEES - 2020 ANNUAL OPEN ENROLLMENT PERIOD FOR OPTION CHANGES IN HEALTH AND DENTAL INSURANCE PLAN COVERAGE. Changes in dependent status - children can age out of dependent status or become eligible for dependent status during the year. To learn more, schedule a consultation with one of our knowledgeable business advisors. Keep in mind, though, that employees must make changes to their flexible spending accounts or health savings accounts each year. Start reviewing your benefit information now so youre ready when the time is right. Therefore, your open enrollment for the new year will take place in October. Changes in number of dependents - if you have a child, adopt a child, or if a child passes away. Sushma Tripathi, vice president of strategic advisory services at ADP, an HR management software and services provider, offered the following starter questions HR can ask to engage employees during open enrollment. If you are looking for help with your current system, or think it may be time to enhance your benefits package, contact us to talk to a consultant. Well, in an ideal world, youd be able to pair up every one of your employees with a savvy and charming financial guru who could look at their unique financial situation, and give tailored recommendations on how they should be spending their free dollarsi.e. Earn FSA Perks Points, unlock member-only rewards, and speed up the checkout process. And there is a tool that can make that happen. Please let us know if you have questions! Help employees save for retirement and reduce taxable income. The information must get to vendors to ensure employees elections are accessible on day one of your companys benefits plan year. Whenever someone loses their job, they want to hear that their loss is validated. If you improperly included an employee, you may have a . Flex-Ed: Mistakes During Open Enrollment Can You Change Elections? Web spread the word about your company's open enrollment with these 30 short reminders. Subject Line: Tomorrow Is The Day For Open Enrollment! Only about one-third of employees (34 percent) have a . a global pandemic that's been hard to predict, improve or enhance open enrollment communication. HR teams in larger companies may even conduct special meetings or hold benefits fairs, all designed to help employees understand their benefits options so they can make informed decisions. For Dave, it would make more sense to set money aside for that before he puts money into his 401K, even if his company offers a match. 2023 FSA Store Inc. All Rights Reserved. Picking an annual theme will keep your communications fresh and help unify all of your messages under one umbrella. An announcement is made via email to ensure employees are informed about open enrollment dates and benefits being offered. Here's what can happen and how HR can help. Heres what you need to do to get started now! In order to offset any decrease in morale, it is important that you provide opportunities for the employee to meet with HR or to attend informational meetings that discuss his or her options to obtain coverage for the next year. Learn how Jellyvision can help you solve your clients toughest challenges. Open with an engaging subject line and immediately set a positive tone. Sample 401K Communication to Employees. Additional education can come in the form of personal worksite consultations, one-on-one appointments with HR representatives, seminars, webinars and self-paced e-learning modules. In the same way 401(k)s use automated deposits to make retirement savings easy for employees, mobile apps likeAcorns,Robinhood,Stash,DigitsandTallyuse automation to help people build emergency savings funds, pay down credit card debt, and invest in smart, manageable, and automatic ways. Please note that all such forms and policies should be reviewed by your legal counsel for compliance with applicable law, and should be modified to suit your organizations culture, industry, and practices. Partnering with a respected third-party administrator is a great way to help educate your employees on their benefits and help make sure they get the most out of the open enrollment experience. Surveying your employees will help you clarify their benefits options and the open enrollment process, and it can demonstrate that you are willing to set aside time to help answer employee questionspotentially reducing the number of employees that miss open enrollment. When it comes to your open enrollment elections, the best thing you can do is take your time and be thorough to minimize the chance of making mistakes. temp_style.textContent = '.ms-rtestate-field > p:first-child.is-empty.d-none, .ms-rtestate-field > .fltter .is-empty.d-none, .ZWSC-cleaned.is-empty.d-none {display:block !important;}'; Benefit terms would run from January 1st to December 31st. Mr. James holds many different licenses in the insurance industry including the Insurance Counselors License through the Texas Department of Insurance. Here are a few tips to make OE emails engaging and drive participation. At many organizations, the open enrollment season for 2020 employer-sponsored benefits is under way or about to begin. To get the ball rolling, a robust open enrollment email to employees is vital. Another way to increase engagement is to provide helpful resources and quick tips for employees to reference. What Is the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA). Let's use a fall open enrollment as an example. During open enrollment, HR representatives often block off hours in their calendars to respond to employee questions about coverage, requirements, and deadlines. Russ continues to support districts across the state with their risk management programs. Bretton Chatham After all the time and attention that HR pros give open enrollment, it can be hard to imagine how an employee could miss the window for electing their benefits. When the economy is unstable, employers are faced with difficult decisions around staffing, pay and benefits. But at the height of a pandemic, it's all the more troubling. In order to prevent these issues, it is important to understand what it means when an employee misses open enrollment and how it can affect your businessbefore it actually happens. Missing open enrollment means limited options, but here a few situations to consider: Qualifying Life Event: An employee may be in luck if they have a qualifying event coming up. Accessibility and clarity of complex information give employees and employers a better experience and promote higher levels of participation. Every employee has his or her own preferences when it comes to receiving important information. Asking for employee feedback: Employees can be a great resource for offering suggestions about the best ways to structure benefits enrollment to ensure maximum participation. He is a graduate of Texas Tech University holds many different licenses in the insurance industry including the Insurance Counselors License through the Texas Department of Insurance. Sending out the open enrollment email to employees is just the first step. Careers, Terms of Use But it will show that you have their best interests in mindwhich, when it comes to creating change, is half the battle. The good news is that were here for you every step of the way! Include a benefits portal on your company website so employees can enroll online at their convenience. Open Enrollment Period: October 10, 2022 - October 31, 2022 This is the annual opportunity for you to make changes to your benefits and to add or drop eligible dependents from coverage. What is Evidence of Insurability (EOI)? Stacia will assign and work with an FBS Billing Coordinator to work with the district on consolidated billing, discrepancies, and other billing matters. As the Director of Client Services at FBS, Cathy oversees the Billing, Clent Service, and Account Executive teams and is available to assist in escalated matters, if necessary. What Happens If an Employee Misses Open Enrollment? The UCPath Center mailed an Open Enrollment notice and Open Enrollment Form to employees who were on an unpaid leave of absence as of September 30, 2021. Here are a few ideas: Also consider other help emails that explain the process in greater detail. Were two weeks from open enrollment. Most companies operate on a calendar fiscal year. Regardless of the reason, this common situation can result in added financial burden on the employee, additional missed days at work due to lack of proper health coverage, and frustration for both employee and employer. When employees miss open enrollment and lose health coverage, this can add financial and emotional burdens that may affect their health, well-being, and productivity at work. Need help with a specific HR issue like coronavirus or FLSA? Writing a Good Job Rejection Letter. Making your employees aware of these tools doesnt guarantee theyll use them, of course. Think of it as an invitation. After all the time and attention that HR pros give, missing open enrollment can make a bad situation worse, An employee may be in luck if they have a, a change to an individuals circumstances, which allows them to, Short-term, or limited-duration, coverage is a health insurance plan that is meant to only last a short time, like a few months to a year. Privacy Policy And because theres a limited amount of time to make these important decisions, it can be a confusing (and often overwhelming) experience for employers and employees alike. coverage qualify for a special enrollment period to enroll in a Marketplace plan outside of the annual open enrollment period and may select a plan within 60 days of losing job-based coverage (either 60 days before or 60 days after). Open Enrollment Email to Employees (Templates). In fact, the terms of your benefits plans may prohibit you from making exceptions for employees who do not make benefits elections within a certain time periodsuch as before the new plan year begins. (A version of this article appeared in Plan Sponsor magazine in February 2018.). Benefits Administration Did the employee miss open enrollment because of. Remind your employees about these resources regularly by highlighting a single resource every month. And How it Works, Include employees in the benefits planning process, Ensure dates and deadlines are clearly communicated, Point out any tax or investment advantages, Provide helpful resources that are easy to digest, Format emails to be colorful and easy to read, Ask for their participation with a call to action, Provide all the contact information theyll need, Plug one last reminder about taking advantage of open enrollment. Open enrollment is an important time of the year for employers, employees, and benefits vendors. A sample of the email notification from HR Leave Administration is also attached. Access exclusive research and insights on the future of employee benefits. (Or in the event of very rare circumstances, such as a legitimate error in which your administrator may or may not be able to allow you to fix). If you don't have time to send a formal letter, consider sending an excuse email instead. Here's what this kind of targeted advice might look like in an email you send to your workforce. Drafting an open enrollment email is not a daunting task. Surveying your employees will help you clarify benefits options and the open enrollment process, demonstrate your willingness to set aside time to help answer their questions, and potentially reduce the number of employees that miss open enrollment. In order to ensure that none of our employees in this status were missed by the cutoff date,HR Leave Administration will email an Open Enrollment reminder this week to allemployees currently on a leave of absence regardless of pay status. Provide information in a wide variety of ways including: Ask your employees if they like the way information is being provided, if they would prefer information be distributed in different ways, or if they have questions that have yet to be answered. , they can enroll at any time, all year long. Log-in Now! Subject Line: Heads Up: Open Enrollment Details Coming Your Way. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); document.getElementById( "ak_js_2" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); I am aBrokerCarrierEmployerCOBRA Participant. t is the employees responsibility to sign up for benefits during open enrollment as long as the employer provides plenty of notice. The IRS and FSA administrators understand that life changes and that you may need to make adjustments to your elections to accommodate for those changes. Short-term insurance is a plan that provides health insurance for 30-364 days (depending on your state) to act as a stopgap when there is a lapse in longer health coverage. In order to ensure that none of our employees in this status were missed by the cutoff date, HR Leave Administration . Contractually, employers may not be able to accommodate employees who miss open enrollment, unless they qualify for a special enrollment period. pliance is currently $0. If you missed open enrollment through your employer, you've probably already asked for their help but there may be nothing they can do. Build specialized knowledge and expand your influence by earning a SHRM Specialty Credential. Also, remember the source of information. But employees are also balancing their workload, home life, childcare, and the holidaysall while trying to stay safe and healthy during a global pandemic that's been hard to predict. Despite your own best efforts to communicate important information and deadlines, you may have employees who dont successfully enroll on time. money left over after basic living expenses are covered. Offer health, dental, vision and more to recruit & retain employees. ensure a successful open enrollment period. Provide instructions on how to log in. You could have misread a question, been forced to rush through the process, or even miscalculated how much money would be coming out of your paycheck every week. Close the email out by reminding employees of the importance of benefits enrollment. However, most have an actively at work or similar provision, and wording regarding the inability to make an election because of extentuating circumstances. Insurance and benefits plans can be cost prohibitive for companies that run smaller operations and/or do not have a large workforce. While employers have certain responsibilities to notify employees about benefits-related deadlines, the responsibility of registering for benefits and completing any required paperwork falls on the employee. Be sure to include these details in your letter. So, if you find yourself surprised by a premium increase come January, you won't be able to change coverage. These waivers also protect an employee's ability to immediately enroll for benefits if they lose coverage from an outside health plan, such as a spouse's employer. Karen Frost, health strategy and solutions leader at Alight Solutions, a benefit administration company, offered these pointers to HR benefit managers for open enrollment and throughout the year: Employers Enhance Emotional and Mental Health Benefits for 2020, SHRM Online, September 2019, 10 Questions for Employees Choosing a Health Plan, In. Drafting A Sample Email Most employees receive a flood of work-related emails every single day. Medicaid provides health insurance to low-income individuals, while CHIP provides health insurance to children of low-income families. Gain the intel you need now to successfully anticipate and navigate employment laws, stay compliant and mitigate legal risks. Consider also whether or not your company should offer auto-enrollment to help employees avoid missing open enrollment. Unless youre a financial expert or HR professional, figuring out retirement plans is no walk in the park. Now is the time to review your current benefits and prepare to make changes, if needed. Relocation - Moving won't always affect your eligibility, but sometimes moving to a new home address or a new work site can, especially if it's in a new state with different regulations. Track employee time and maximize payroll accuracy. The only exception to these terms is if an employee qualifies for a special enrollment period (SEP). Copyright The Regents of the University of California, Davis campus. To provide managers and supervisors with the guidance they may need in times of crucial . The UCPath Center mailed an Open Enrollment notice and Open Enrollment Form to employees who were on an unpaid leave of absence as of September 30, 2021. Client Testimonials Its equally important to understand why they missed the deadline and help them avoid the same mistake in the future. Some are closer to retirement than others, some have a larger savings safety net than others, and some have more pressing upcoming expenses than others.