Setting up benefit elections

The Benefit Elections page includes a table of all current, unexpired benefit plans that were set up for your employers in Sage HRMS. The table includes the employer (or enterprise shown with ***), the name of the benefit plan, the From and To dates, and the plan's election status. If the status column is Undefined, the election requirements have not been set up, so that benefit plan cannot be used yet for open enrollment or life events.

As an administrator, you can set up the benefit plan election options that are available to employees during a life event or open enrollment. The election options vary depending upon the type of benefit plan. For example, a supplemental life insurance plan may have coverage options for $100,000, $150,000, etc. A medical plan may have options for the dependents the employee wants to cover (such as Employee Only, Employee + Spouse, and Family).

Benefit plan elections must be set up for all plans in which employees are currently enrolled, regardless of whether the benefit plan is being used in a life event or in an open enrollment period. This is necessary in order for the employee's Current Benefits page (in HRMS Employee Self Service) to display the correct elections for the plans in which they are enrolled.

About savings plans

Consider the following information when you set up elections for a savings plan (such as a retirement plan):

• The employee is the only person who can enroll in a savings plan (a dependent cannot enroll).
• The employee's election options are limited to either contribution amount or contribution percentage.
• The amount (or percentage) contributed by the employee is the amount for each pay period. In order to communicate this information to the employee, you should enter an appropriate message for Plan Description on the Benefit Elections - Links page) to instruct the employee that the contribution amount (or percentage) they enter for a savings plan is the amount (or percentage) for each pay period.

Before you begin

For each plan, consider:

• The benefit plan group (medical, pharmacy, dental, supplemental life, etc.).
• The election codes that apply to the benefit plan (such as Employee Only, Employee + Spouse—or one times annual salary, two times annual salary, etc.).
• The location on HRMS Employee Self Service's employee Insurance/Savings Benefits page in which you want to store the election value (such as the Coverage Amount or Coverage Type).
• Enrollment questions (if you choose to add them).
• If both employee and dependent coverage are the same and the plan uses a rate table, you must set up an election option for each row in the plan's rate table.

Using the Benefit Elections setup wizard

To specify or change the elections for a benefit plan:

1. On the Administrator menu, select Benefit Setup > Benefit Elections.

2. The table on the Benefit Elections page shows all current, unexpired benefit plans set up for your employers in Sage HRMS. This includes the benefit plan, the enterprise or specific employer, the plan's effective date range, and the status of the elections setup (Undefined or Complete). More...

   • Undefined: The benefit plan's elections have not been completely set up so the plan is not available to use for Open Enrollment or in a Life Event.
   • Complete: The benefit plan's elections have been set up and finalized so the plan is now available to use for Open Enrollment or in a Life Event.

   Click (the Edit icon) in the row of the benefit plan whose elections you want to define or change.

3. The Benefit Elections wizard opens.

   Click Next to move through the pages. (You can click Back to move back to the previous page—or click Cancel to discard your changes and return to the table.)

   The wizard may include the following pages. Some pages are not applicable for savings plans.

   • Benefit Elections - Requirements page
   • Benefit Elections - General page
   • Benefit Elections - Employee page (if you selected Employee Only or Employee and Dependents - Separate Elections on the Benefit Elections - General page)
   • Benefit Elections - Dependents page (if you selected Dependents Only or Employee and Dependents - Separate Elections on the Benefit Elections - General page)
   • Benefit Elections - Combined page (if you selected One Choice Employee with Dependents on the Benefit Elections - General page)
   • Benefit Elections - Rate Table page if you selected Match to Rate Table on the Benefit Elections - Combined page)
   • Benefit Elections - Links and Attachments page
4. When you reach the last page of the wizard, click Finish to finalize your changes and return to table on the Benefit Elections page. The Status column for that row of the table now shows Complete.