The short version
- Assign a person and deadline to each enrollment task.
- Calculate contributions for the actual payroll schedule.
- Reconcile employee elections, carrier records and the first invoice.
About 90 days before: establish the starting point
Gather the current employee census, plan summaries, contribution schedule and renewal date. Confirm which locations and employee groups are included. Set a budget range before reviewing alternatives so the team knows what is sustainable.
Ask employees what is difficult about the current benefits. A short anonymous survey can ask about understanding the plan, finding providers or getting enrollment help without requesting diagnoses or prescription histories.
Assign an owner for each workstream: plan selection, payroll, employee communications, enrollment and carrier reconciliation. In a small business, one person may fill several roles, but each task should still have a name beside it.
About 60 days before: compare and decide
Review the renewal against comparable options. Use the same census and include employee payroll deductions, provider access and out-of-pocket costs. Our group-benefits guide can help organize the coverage categories.
Confirm the effective date, enrollment submission deadline and any participation or contribution requirements with the carrier. Decide whether employees must make active elections or whether some existing elections will continue. Do not assume every benefit follows the same process.
If health accounts are included, verify the applicable HSA or FSA limits and your plan’s adopted features. Payroll settings should match the employee materials. The IRS’s employer guide explains the tax treatment and requirements of several benefit arrangements. Source: IRS Publication 15-B
About 30 days before: make the choices understandable
Prepare a short comparison that shows what changed, the cost per paycheck and the action employees must take. Use actual payroll frequency. A monthly premium divided by two does not give the correct deduction for a business using 26 pay periods a year.
Illustration: A $120 monthly employee contribution equals $1,440 a year. Spread across 24 pay periods it is $60 per paycheck; across 26 it is approximately $55.38, subject to the payroll system’s rounding and deduction schedule.
Provide the required plan information alongside your explanation. A custom benefits summary does not replace the Summary of Benefits and Coverage or other required documents. The Department of Labor describes SBC delivery with enrollment materials and at other specified times. Source: DOL plan information
Tell employees how to check doctors, prescriptions and dependent eligibility. Give remote employees and people on leave a way to receive the materials and ask questions. Use private channels for individual coverage concerns.
During enrollment: track completion and offer help
Send a clear opening message, a reminder and a final-deadline notice. Each should identify the action required, where to complete it and who can help.
Track completed elections and permitted waivers through the enrollment process. Follow up on missing items without circulating personal benefit choices unnecessarily. Give employees a confirmation or instructions for checking their selections.
Keep employer enrollment dates distinct from Washington’s individual-market enrollment dates. Employees should follow the deadlines for the coverage they are actually choosing; employer plans do not all use the same calendar. Source: Washington OIC coverage overview
After enrollment: reconcile before calling it finished
Compare employee elections with carrier confirmations and payroll deductions. Resolve discrepancies promptly through the appropriate administrator. Check new dependents, terminated coverage and any changes from the previous plan year.
When the first invoice and payroll arrive, compare them with the final enrollment records. Send employees a short message explaining how to access ID cards, review benefits and get help with a claim or missing enrollment.
Your reusable completion checklist
- Budget and plan choices approved.
- Carrier deadlines and effective dates confirmed.
- Contributions calculated for the correct payroll schedule.
- Required documents and employee comparisons distributed.
- Employees on leave and remote staff included.
- Elections, waivers and missing items reviewed.
- Carrier enrollment and payroll records reconciled.
- First invoice checked and employee support contact shared.
Benefit Experts helps Washington employers coordinate benefits and enrollment support. Contact us to plan an enrollment process your team can follow.
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