Open enrollment is the one week a year every employee forms an opinion of their benefits. It deserves a project plan.
Employees who do not understand a change assume it is a cut. We run enrollment as a project with a timeline, owners and a follow-up list, so the people who never opened the email are reached before the window closes, not after.
Enrollment works backward from the date the files go to the carriers.
The last day of enrollment is not the deadline that matters. The deadline is when clean elections have to reach carriers and payroll for the new plan year.
Decisions First
Communications cannot be written until plan designs and contributions are final. We set the renewal decision date early enough that the messaging describes the real plan, not a draft that changes after the slides are printed. Early decisions keep open enrollment on schedule. Work back from your renewal date using our open enrollment planning calculator.
Platform Setup
Rates, plans and rules are loaded and tested before a single employee logs in. We check the enrollment screens against the renewal ourselves, because an error found during enrollment has to be fixed for everyone who already enrolled. Testing before launch protects open enrollment.
Communications
Each change gets a plain explanation of what it means for the employee’s own cost. We write for the employee reading on a phone between shifts, not for the committee that approved the design. Plain language raises open enrollment participation.
Sessions
Live and recorded sessions for each location and shift, planned around when people actually work. Night-shift and field employees should not be left with a recording and no one to ask. Shift-friendly sessions reach every employee during open enrollment. Record them for anyone who misses a session.
The employees you need to reach are the ones who did not open the first email.
Passive enrollment carries last year’s choices forward, and sometimes that is the wrong outcome. We track who has not acted and reach them while there is still time.
Tracking Who Has Not Acted
Midway through enrollment we pull the list of employees who have not logged in. We reach them through supervisors, text messages or a visit to the floor, because a second email to someone who ignored the first seldom changes anything.
Elections That Need a Second Look
An employee who drops coverage, adds a spouse or changes tiers without dependent details gets a follow-up. We flag those elections before the files go out, which is where eligibility problems are cheapest to fix. Election review catches eligibility problems early.
Active Enrollment Years
When a plan change is significant or an election does not carry forward, we recommend active enrollment. It is more work, which is why we reserve it for years when a default would leave people worse off. Active enrollment fits years with major plan changes.
Enrollment is finished when the first paycheck and the first ID card are right.
Closing the window starts the part employees notice most. We check the results before the new plan year proves them wrong.
Election Confirmation
Each employee receives a confirmation of what they chose. We send it before the files go to carriers, so a mistaken election can be corrected while it is still a simple change. Early confirmation keeps open enrollment corrections simple, before carrier files and payroll are affected.
File and Deduction Check
We reconcile elections against carrier files and the first payroll deductions. A mismatch caught in the first cycle is a correction; caught at year end, it is a refund or a retroactive charge. First-cycle reconciliation catches open enrollment errors early.
Lessons for Next Year
We record which questions came in, which locations lagged and which messages missed, so next year’s plan starts from what happened, not from what was intended. A lessons-learned record makes each open enrollment better than the last, for HR and for employees.
What HR asks before open enrollment.
When should planning start?
Before the renewal is final. The timeline runs backward from the carrier file date, and the renewal decision is the step most likely to slip, so we build slack around it. Early planning keeps open enrollment on time. Build slack around the renewal date.
Should enrollment be active or passive?
Passive is easier and fine in a stable year. Active is worth the effort when plans change, contributions shift or an election does not carry forward, because a default then leaves people in the wrong place. Enrollment type should match the year’s changes.
What about employees without a work email?
They are the ones most likely to miss enrollment entirely. We plan printed pieces, onsite sessions and supervisor briefings for them from the start rather than as an afterthought. Planning for offline employees raises open enrollment participation and keeps elections complete.
Related guides.
Decision Support and Plan-Selection Education
Helping employees choose a plan that fits, with tools, calls and clear messaging.
Active or Passive Open Enrollment
When employees must re-elect every year, when current elections roll over, and what to plan for.
Send us your renewal.
We’ll tell you whether it looks competitive, where we see opportunity, and the five questions we’d put to your carrier. No cost, and no obligation to move anything.
The renewal letter
Your current plan summary
Contribution split by tier
Enrolled counts by tier
Four documents — two more if your group is 50 or more. Nothing else; every extra one is a reason to postpone.
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