The Changing Color of Leaves. . . College Football. . . and Open Enrollment Concerns
Fall is here. Kids are back at school. Leaves are turning red and orange. College football is underway. However, for the HR professional, the arrival of Fall means the start of open enrollment for benefit plans. Below is money- and time-saving regulatory guidance to consider before, during, and after your open enrollment period for your employee benefit plans.
Prepare
To prepare for the open enrollment period, sit down and develop a plan. The plan should include the dates for the enrollment period, what resources are at your disposal and how to allocate them. Work with your service providers to see what types of resources they have to assist you. Develop a checklist that contains all of the tasks relating to open enrollment and the due dates for such tasks. Take into consideration how long it will take to train any staff members that may have to answer benefits-related questions from employees.
Communicate Effectively
Communication is always an important part of HR’s job and is even more important during open enrollment. Consider having open enrollment meetings to communicate all the healthcare reform changes to employees. Try to notify employees of open enrollment meetings 3-4 weeks prior to the date of the meetings. Schedule the meetings so that the you have time to submit enrollment changes to insurance providers and verify that employees are appropriately enrolled in their chosen benefits. You may want to have benefit providers present for individual employee meetings. In addition, provide enrollment kits to employees that provide comprehensive information about the benefits and their portion of the cost. Be sure to provide employees with an adequate time frame that they can review all of the materials and consult with family members in order to make decisions regarding their benefits.
