What would you use to show new employees the process for signing up for health benefits?

Usually, you can sign up for health benefits when you are first hired. Most employers also have an annual open enrollment period, or open season, when you can sign up for coverage or (if your employer offers a choice of plans) change your enrollment to a different health plan. In addition, there are special circumstances, called “qualifying events” that trigger a “special enrollment opportunity” outside of the normally scheduled annual open season. These qualifying events include loss of eligibility for other coverage (for example, because of job loss or reduction in hours worked, death, divorce or legal separation, or loss of dependent status) and certain life events such as marriage, or the birth or adoption of a child. In general, you must be offered a special enrollment opportunity of at least 30 days following these qualifying events to enroll in your job-based health plan.

If you’re not using employee benefits software, then you know how difficult it can be to navigate the regulations around offering great medical, dental, vision, and commuter benefits.

Certain required benefits, like social security and workers’ compensation, go into effect on an employee’s first day of work. On the other hand, optional benefits, like health plans, can be largely within your control. Some businesses offer benefits to new employees immediately, others after 90 days. Setting up an initial waiting period before new employees’ benefits begin can allow time to ensure that a given employee is a good fit for the company, and will likely be sticking around for the longer term.

Rules and Regulations

Because employers are not legally obligated to provide health benefits, for instance, it’s largely up to you to determine how optional benefits will function and when they begin.

There is, however, one exception. As of February 20, 2014, a joint rule by the Departments of Labor, Treasury, and Health and Human Services implemented a provision to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that prohibits self-insured and insured group health plans from requiring employees to wait more than 90 days before their health plan begins.

It’s important to note that the maximum waiting time is 90 calendar days (not 3 months) and the plan must be fully available to the employee starting on that day, regardless of weekends or holidays.

Other Requirements

Though the fixed waiting period can’t surpass 90 days, employers are not prohibited from implementing other non-time based requirements. For example, employees could be required to obtain certain licensure, reach a certain promotion, or complete an orientation procedure before they’re eligible for health care benefits to begin.

Conclusion

As an employer, you can decide how long new employees must wait before their optional benefits kick in, with the exception of health care plans, which have a maximum time-based waiting period of 90 days.

Bookmark(0)

Please login to bookmark

No account yet? Register

Lauren Perales

As an HR Advisor at Zenefits, Lauren provides guidance and best practices to companies of all sizes with any HR and compliance questions. In her spare time, she enjoys reading and chasing her three dogs around.

When onboarding new employees, do your company’s benefits get the attention they deserve? 

For your onboarding team, providing an in-depth explanation of multiple insurance policies probably isn’t a priority. However, it’s important to help workers understand company perks from day one. 

By introducing benefits early on, your organization can potentially…

• Reduce open enrollment stress in the future. 
• Encourage employees to take advantage of their benefits in a timely manner.
• Reinforce the fact that choosing your company was the right decision. 

If you’re a benefits professional, you’re in a unique role to support your onboarding team. This article explains how to positively influence your colleagues and help them educate incoming personnel.

1. Consult with your onboarding team.

Reach out to those responsible for onboarding new employees. Do your peers fully understand your different coverage options and wellness programs? Is it clear that ensuring that new workers understand their benefits is a priority?

If not, be intentional about collaborating. Connect the dots between employee success and employee health literacy, and provide easy-to-use materials that can be repurposed for the training process.   

2. Showcase your benefits in offer letters.

Another way you can support the onboarding team? Use your benefits expertise to improve your organization’s offer letters! 

Propose a review of the current offer-letter template, and give suggestions for highlighting company perks. Ideally, each letter should describe key benefits with links to additional resources. (You’ll want to include a link to your decision support tool and explain when eligibility for enrollment begins.)

3. Create a benefits-focused email for onboarding new employees.

If a job candidate accepts an offer letter, education shouldn’t stop there! 

We recommend communicating with your onboarding team about crafting a benefits-focused email to welcome newcomers. This message can deliver a digital benefits guide and provide links to your intranet for more information.  

(Need tips for writing engaging benefits emails? Be sure to check out this eBook!) 

4. Ensure that initial training discusses company perks. 

Are benefits an important discussion topic during a worker’s first few weeks? If not, ask if you can send a representative to support your HR department or company manager during onboarding events. 

Educate your leadership team on incorporating critical information when coaching new employees. Make certain your colleagues have the tools they need to help trainees take advantage of your wellness programs, navigate your decision support software, and more.  

5. Produce customized visuals. 

With different timelines for different benefits, things can get confusing. We recommend giving each incoming team member a customized visual to help keep track of key events. 

This graphic can be a timeline that shows an employee his or her…  

• Benefits eligibility date. 
• Deadline for signing up for benefits.
• Start of health and fitness program discounts. 
• 401(k) eligibility date.

6. Outline the transition for family members.

A new employee is likely leaving a previous company’s benefits to join yours. By itself, it’s a change that can create extra stress. But that’s especially true if the worker has family members on his or her plan. 

While onboarding new employees, make the effort to ease their minds and clearly outline the dates and deadlines for switching to your plan. Be sure to brief your onboarding team on the following:    

• How to ensure there is no gap in coverage
• How to transition care for ongoing conditions 
• When to expect new insurance cards 
• When to expect new HSA/FSA accounts 
• How to obtain the information sooner, if possible

7. Immediately educate on the ACA.

As your organization integrates new talent, it’s important to discuss any ACA-related issue as soon as possible. Doing so can prevent confusion (and potential disappointment) in the future for workers. For example, if an individual hasn’t previously experienced a variable-hour employee classification, not receiving coverage after the first three months might be a letdown.

Talk with your colleagues about how to streamline these communications. You will want to alert employees if their policies qualify for any state individual mandate requirements. For variable-hour staff, you should explain how they’ll be measured for 12 months before plans are offered. 

8. Highlight and encourage enrollment in your wellness and other benefits programs.

Does your company have benefits programs to help employees achieve positive health outcomes? 

Start engagement with these initiatives early! In addition to providing online information, we recommend personally introducing newcomers to the primary champions of your different programs.   

An employee who joins and has someone in his or her family with a chronic condition will value hearing about ancillary benefits offered that could address an ongoing issue, such as diabetes or weight management. 

Outlining best practices for transitioning care to your program will alleviate stress about enrollment. For example, if an employee has been managing diabetes on his or her own, give steps on how to switch to regularly using your on-site clinics or how to ensure there is no gap in filling insulin prescriptions.

9. Use Tango Decision Assist™ when onboarding new employees.   

There are a lot of moving parts involved in onboarding new employees; introducing benefits is just one of many tasks. 

Tango Decision Assist™ is a turnkey solution that can support your busy onboarding team. 

Our software works to reduce the benefits learning curve and offers a centralized location for sharing helpful program information. Our tool even provides early access so incoming employees can explore their benefits before official open enrollment begins!   

Ready to strengthen and streamline benefits education? Learn more about Tango Decision Assist™.