In today’s labor market, benefits can be a valuable tool for employers to retain talent. Employers may feel that they are preparing employees for open enrollment by only offering the necessary information right before the open enrollment process. But a recent report from the Life Insurance Marketing and Research Association (LIMRA) showed a significant lack of understanding of the benefits being offered. Thirty percent of employees said they didn’t know whether their employers offered major insurance benefits like medical, dental, and vision, while more than half were uncertain whether employers offered any retirement benefits.
The LIMRA study showed that 60 percent of employees felt employer communications on benefits were ineffective. Employers should think about the open enrollment process as a year-long communications rather than an isolated need in the weeks ahead of open enrollment.
There are so many fine-point details to the layers of benefits, detailed communications throughout the year can help employees build knowledge and confidence in their benefits. In fact, 70 percent of respondents said they want benefits information year-round. Study results also have shown that providing more frequent communications can increase understanding of benefits by 10 to 30 percentage points.
If your open enrollment period is coming up in a few weeks, it is not too late to send simple, informational communications on key features of your open enrollment process.
While the pandemic did not invent virtual enrollment, it did force many providers to broaden and strengthen the online process. Today, employers have expanded options for the enrollment process to best suit the needs of their workforce.
No matter which option(s) your company chooses, employers should monitor the effectiveness of these options to see what works best for your workforce and improve the process for the following year.
Open enrollment can be stressful, so the easier and more accessible you make your communications, the better the process will be for everyone involved. In general, employees need to know which coverage levels best fit their needs as well as the total costs and specific rules that go along with the options they choose. The same goes for non-insurance benefits, such as mental health and tuition assistance. Doing the math for employees and providing examples or illustrations of various scenarios can help make selections easier to understand.
Employees also should seek to keep all required informational notices easy to understand. Notices would include Summary Plan Description (SPD), Plan Highlights, Enrollment Forms or similar materials. Annual limits—such as spending to meet deductibles or contribution limits to 401(k)s—should be readily available to your employees, as should deadlines for submission and other enrollment requirements.
In addition, America’s workforce is diverse in language and culture. Employers with these demographics should consider translating materials—both online and in-person—and clearly communicating that this service is available to employees.
When it comes to translating documents, the Department of Labor (DOL) provides guidance for the style and format for SPDs that can be helpful in crafting information for open enrollment. Plan sponsors should make it well-known that a non-English version of benefits information is available and help employees understand their benefits. Note that it is important to include a disclaimer stating that in the event of any conflict between the English and translated version, the English version will be the default information.
With more concise and frequent communication, employers can improve the open enrollment process as well as their ability to retain the right employees.