Use this page to define general information about the open enrollment period you are adding or editing. Note that the ability to edit this information depends on the status of the open enrollment period.
Before you begin
When you define an enrollment period, you set the date range of the period, which is defined by the begin date (when employees can start enrolling), the end date (when employees must stop enrolling), and the plan year effective date (when new benefits become effective). If you set up multiple enrollment periods, it is imperative that the date range of one period does not overlap the date range of another period.
For example, you set up an enrollment period whose date range is: Begin 3/1, End 3/15, Plan Year Effective 4/1. To avoid overlapping this enrollment period, you must not set up any another enrollment period whose Begin, End, or Plan Year Effective Date is equal to or between 3/1 - 4/1.
This applies whether you are setting up a new period or changing a period's end date or plan year effective date in the middle of an open enrollment period.
To set up Open Enrollment
Enrollment Period: Enter text (up to 60 characters) to clearly describe this enrollment period. This description is displayed on each page as the employee proceeds through the open enrollment process. This text is also displayed in the Reason for Change field in Sage HRMS on the employee's Insurance/Savings Benefits Detail.
Begin Date: Enter the date (must be after the current system date) on which the open enrollment period begins. When this date matches the system date in Sage Employee Self Service, the enrollment period opens. Then when the employee logs on, they can select Open Enrollment from their menu and begin open enrollment. This date is displayed on the Open Enrollment Welcome page. Show me
End Date: Enter the date (must be after the Begin Date) on which the open enrollment period ends. When this date matches the system date in Sage Employee Self Service, the enrollment period closes. When the employee logs on and selects the Open Enrollment menu, they will receive a message that Open Enrollment is not available. This date is displayed on the Open Enrollment Welcome page. Show me
Plan Year Effective: Enter the date (must be after the End Date) on which the new plan year starts (for example, January 1, 2005). This is the date the new benefits become effective. This date is displayed on the Open Enrollment Welcome page and all other pages as the employee proceeds through the open enrollment process.
On the plan year effective date, all employees actively enrolled in the benefit plans that were selected for open enrollment are updated with new plan rates, whether or not they participated in open enrollment.
If multiple employers are using the same benefit plan (set up at the Enterprise level) and want to provide separate enrollment periods with different plan year effective dates for the same plan, you must set up a separate employer level benefit plan in Sage Employee Self Service for each employer whose enrollment periods differ.
The Plan Year Effective date is used in Sage Employee Self Service for the Current
Amounts Went Into Effect On
date for the benefit plans included
in this open enrollment period. It is also used as the Latest Change to Amounts The date included in the employee's benefit plan history record (the
Change Reason is automatically set to the description of the Enrollment
Period).
Employee Status: Select the type of employees who are eligible to enroll during this open enrollment period. Select Active employees, employees on Leave of Absence, or both. If an active employee is terminated or put on a leave of absence after an open enrollment period has begun, the employee will still be able to access the open enrollment period (if permitted by the logon setup). However, if the plan's eligibility does not include terminated employees or employees on leaves of absence, the system will not permit the employee to enroll or make changes to any plans (they can only view the pages).
Tip: To restrict terminated or LOA employees from logging on to Sage Employee Self Service, go to the Logon Setup page and make sure the Terminated and Leave of Absence employee statuses are not selected.
Status :The system assigns and tracks the status of enrollment periods as they are added, opened, closed, and updated.
- Not Started: This status is assigned when you add a new open enrollment period whose Begin Date is in the future. The status remains Not Started until the enrollment period begins, at which time the status changes to In Progress. While the status is Not Started, you can edit any setup item; you can also delete the entire open enrollment period.
- In
Progress: The status changes to In Progress at 12:01 A.M. on the Begin
Date of the open enrollment period. At this time, a message is sent to
the Message Center indicating the start of the open enrollment period
and the Open Enrollment menu option becomes available to employees who
are eligible to participate in the open enrollment period. The status
remains In Progress until the open enrollment period End Date passes.
While the status is In Progress, you cannot delete the enrollment period,
however, you can edit
a limited number of items.
- Closed: The status changes to Closed after the open enrollment period has been reached and passed. For example, if the End Date is 4/30, the open enrollment period closes at 12:01 A.M. on 5/1. At this time, the system removes the message from the Message Center, any applicable open enrollment links, and the Open Enrollment menu option. The employee is no longer able to make enrollment selections or changes. You cannot delete a closed period.
- Updated: The status changes to Updated when the Benefits Administrator has successfully updated a closed open enrollment period, sending data changes to Sage HRMS. Enrollment records are view only. For details on the Update process, click Update Open Enrollment.