The floor, the lab and the office want different things.
- Education on every shift, overnight included
- Disability terms compared line by line
- Every option shown per paycheck, in one format
- Bargaining dates built into the renewal calendar
Hourly machinists and assemblers may cover day, swing and overnight shifts while salaried engineers keep regular hours. Everyone picks from one menu, but a deductible means one thing to a single engineer and another to a production lead with three kids.
Physical work raises the stakes on income protection. After six weeks out for surgery, medical pays the covered health costs and disability replaces part of the paycheck, on its own terms. Work injuries for L&I-covered employees go through L&I.
If a union contract covers benefits, its calendar comes first. Bring the agreement and the bargaining schedule, and have your legal and bargaining team review any change before rollout. We support the analysis and the employee education.
Four levers we pull on a manufacturing renewal.
Two plans, one contribution
Offer a choice and fund it on purpose.
A high-deductible plan with an HSA suits people who want a lower premium and can handle first-dollar costs; a copay plan suits households that want predictable bills. Offer both with one company contribution, and we model the paycheck deduction at employee-only and family tiers. See one plan or two.
Funding judged on the contract
Level-funded can fit a plant. It can also disappoint.
Level-funded quotes from UnitedHealthcare, Nationwide, Angle Health and Cigna are priced on your group, and one fixed monthly payment funds a claims account, stop-loss insurance and administration. Underwriting can push the price up or end in a decline, renewals track your claims, and a surplus refund is possible, not promised. We set the contract beside a fully insured quote: stop-loss levels, claims runout, administration, renewal terms and surplus handling. Start with these contract questions.
Disability built around shift pay
Decide which paycheck you're protecting.
Disability coverage replaces part of covered earnings, so ask whether overtime and shift differentials count, how long the elimination period runs and where the monthly maximum sits. Leave overtime out, and a machinist who depends on it collects less than expected.
Classes when one plan doesn't fit
An ICHRA can fund salaried and hourly staff differently.
With an ICHRA, you set allowances by class and employees buy individual coverage. If salaried staff keep the group plan and hourly staff move to an ICHRA, an employer under 100 needs at least 10 in the ICHRA class. Notice is due 90 or more days ahead of the plan year.
If you buy through AWB HealthChoice.
Manufacturing is one of the eligible industries for AWB HealthChoice, the member health plan of the Association of Washington Business. Association plans aren't rated under Washington's small-group rules, so a HealthChoice renewal and a small-group quote can move differently. You can change medical plans only at the December 1 renewal, cancelling takes 30 days' notice, and medical, vision and life come as a package. Our association renewal comparison shows what to line up.
We're an appointed AWB HealthChoice producer, so we can quote it for eligible members, but we aren't owned by or endorsed by the Association of Washington Business.
Working back from December 1.
Illustrative: a 45-person aerospace parts supplier on AWB HealthChoice. Other plans renew on other dates, but the order of work holds.
Late summer: one census
Home ZIP code, date of birth, shift, pay class and coverage tier for everyone, plus bargaining dates. An ICHRA needs a decision by late August, since notice must reach employees 90 days before December 1.
September: price the field
The HealthChoice renewal, a small-group plan and a level-funded plan on that census, with vision and life included.
Early October: decide
Choose the plan and contributions while there's time to get a replacement approved.
By about November 1: give notice if leaving
HealthChoice needs 30 days' notice to cancel. Get the replacement approved first.
November: enroll every shift
Sessions at each shift change, private follow-ups and live virtual options. Then your administrators keep Employee Navigator current and we make carrier changes.
Two things that trip up plants.
Safety glasses aren't automatically a vision benefit
Prescription safety eyewear and other work items may or may not be covered. Check the contract before anyone tells the floor.
A benefit list isn't an offer
Show each option's paycheck cost at employee-only and family levels, the deductible a household could face, the network and what disability pays, all in one layout.
Confirm the deduction calendar before showing the plan menu.
If production and office staff have different payroll calendars, one “per paycheck” figure can describe two different annual costs. Agree with payroll on the actual deduction schedule for each group before preparing employee materials. Twice monthly is twenty-four pay periods; every two weeks ordinarily produces twenty-six, with some calendars requiring a different count.
The existing contribution strategy guide explains how the company contribution changes the employee share. Use the medical comparison workbook for budget planning with one payroll calendar per run. Its group averages do not replace each employee’s quoted premium and approved contribution.
Before enrollment opens, have payroll and the benefits contact check a worked deduction line for every payroll schedule and coverage option. Label the annual premium, company contribution, employee share and number of deductions. After elections are accepted, reconcile the actual employee amounts and first deductions against the carrier record. Use the same checked explanation at each shift session so employees receive consistent information even when their pay calendars differ.
What manufacturers ask us.
Can night shift get the same enrollment help as day shift?
Yes. We schedule sessions at shift changes, overnight included, with private follow-ups and live virtual options. Education is included at no extra fee for client teams.
We passed 50 employees. Does small-group rating still apply?
It depends on last year. Washington's small-group market covers employers that averaged 1 to 50 employees in the previous calendar year, counting affiliated companies as one. Those rates vary only by area, family size, age and wellness activities, with adult age rates held to 3 to 1. Past that average, those rules stop applying.
We had two large claims last year. Is level funding off the table?
Not necessarily, but the claims will show. Level-funded pricing is underwritten on your group, so large claims can raise the price or lead to a decline. A small-group plan that's fully insured doesn't use health history in its rates, for groups that qualify. We quote both.
Is accident coverage worth offering on the floor?
As an employee choice, it can be. Voluntary accident and hospital plans are employee-paid through payroll deduction and supplement medical. They don't replace workers' comp, which most Washington employers get through L&I.
Official sources: the Washington OIC on small-business health coverage, HealthCare.gov on individual coverage HRAs and IRS Publication 969 on HSAs. General information, not legal or tax advice.
Bring the census and the shift schedule.
We'll price every option on one census and plan enrollment around every shift. You don't need a current plan to start.