Rules for Benefit Plan Data and Calculations

Benefit plans often require complex calculations depending upon a number of different factors. Coverage, premiums, and contribution calculations can vary according to an employees age, income, years of service or other variables.

For example, an employees life insurance coverage might vary based upon the employees salary. In another case, an employees monthly dependents premium amount can depend on the number of enrolled dependents.

You can determine data and calculations for coverage, employee and dependent premiums and contributions using fixed amounts, or you can calculate them using formulas. You can also refer to a rate table if you created one for the particular field with which you are working.

Benefit Plan Options

When you set up your benefit plans, Sage HRMS provides the following options you can use to define insurance coverage and premium information:

Leave the field blank. If you leave the field blank, Sage HRMS does not use automatic benefit calculation for this field and you can manually enter an amount for each employee on the employees Insurance Benefits page. Or, leave the field blank if the field does not apply to this type of insurance (such as coverage for a dental plan or a dependent premium for employee life insurance).
Enter zero - If you enter a zero, the fixed amount is zero (0). For example, the dependent premium for employee life insurance is always zero.

Note: A zero (0) does not disable automatic benefit calculation. If you enter a zero, automatic benefit calculation replaces any number you previously entered on the employees benefit pages with a zero.

Enter a fixed dollar amount - Each affected employee benefit record automatically receives this amount. If the amount changes (as it would, for example, whenever your insurance company raises rates), you can correct the amount on the page for the insurance plan; then all employees who have the benefit will update automatically.
To enter a fixed dollar amount, such as $10,000 of coverage, enter the amount without a dollar sign or comma: 10000.
Enter a mathematical formula using the data in your systems databases.
- For example, you can specify two times the employees annual pay with the formula2*ANNUAL()
To insert expressions using items from the Personnel or Benefits database, click the Expression Builder button. The Expression Builder opens so you can build an expression for the insurance plan calculations. For more information, see Expressions and Functions.
Set up rate tables to help you test for specific conditions and to perform complex calculations. Rate tables allow you to define calculations once and then reference the information instead of repeatedly typing the calculations. Use rate tables to define coverage, premium and contribution amounts.
- For example, you might want to set up a rate table that charges different monthly premiums for employees based on age, gender and whether or not they smoke.
To use a rate table you previously set up, select it from the list of Available Rate Tables.
Enter a conditional formula using the IIF function.

If you are familiar with expressions, you can type them directly or use the Expression Builder to help you when you set up your insurance plans. For example, you can use an expression to calculate 20% of an employees salary for the coverage amount of a disability insurance policy. For more information regarding expressions, see Expressions and Functions.

Note: You must precede any referenced data from the employee Benefit database with "BE." to signify it originates from the Benefits database rather than the Employee Personnel database.