The "Benefit Properties" tab allows you to manage and configure the properties of a benefit, such as, but not limited to:

• The English and Spanish names of the benefit as viewed by employees.
• The benefit and earning deduction code for payroll purposes.
• The employees who are eligible for the benefit.

After selecting the benefit type for a new benefit, you will be taken to the "Benefit Properties" tab directly. If you want to configure an existing benefit, you can refer to the steps below on how to navigate to the benefit properties.

Complete the fields and enable options as needed for the benefit. When finished, click Save & Continue >> before proceeding to the next tab.

Primary Fields

• Name - The name you give the benefit does not need to match your benefit type, but it can and will in most cases.
• Benefit Type - Your benefit type previously selected from the "Benefit Type" tab will automatically be in your drop-down list.
• Benefit Code - The Benefit code is used for syncing benefits with payroll and running deduction audits. This is an optional field. Payroll codes from the current payroll provider are ideal in this alpha-numeric text box.
• Earning Deduction Code - The Earning Deduction Code is often used in payroll integration and should also match the payroll value.
• Employer Deduction Code - The Employer Deduction Code is optional. If used, the Employer Deduction Code should match payroll.
• Pay Period - This field will always default to "0".  If "0" is selected, deductions for this benefit will look to previously created pay schedules and the number of pay periods within each schedule.  If an employee elects a mid-year benefit, only the remaining pay periods will be used for per-pay-period costs. If the benefit is always deducted the same number of times throughout the year, then a hard-coded default number should be selected.  You are determining how many deductions the benefit takes from the employee. This determines per-pay-period costs. Note that contribution-based benefits should NEVER be hardcoded, as this will cause them to calculate incorrectly.
  • Entering a number into the field, such as 52 for a typical weekly pay schedule, will have the system ignore your pay schedules and rely on the number entered instead, which is not recommended.
  • For example, if you build a pay schedule with 52 pay periods per year, you will occasionally have a pay schedule with 53 pay periods for the year. As organizations do not want 53 deductions in a year, and instead opt for 52 deductions a year, they would instead want to use the pay date exclusion.
• Pay Date Exclusions - Allows you to exclude a pay date from deductions. Select the pay schedule and the pay schedule year. A list of pay dates for the selected year should populate the menu, where you can select the pay date to be excluded from deductions, typically the last pay date of the year, so the system will take deductions for every pay period for the year, except for the selected date. 
• Eligibility Rule - Determines who is eligible to receive the benefit. 
• Start & End Date - In most cases, you will use the start and end dates of the package for the benefit.  If the benefit is off-cycle and begins before or after the package dates, you may also select the option to use the start and end dates specified below.  Please note that benefits that are dependent on one another should always have matching start and end dates. If dates do not match, the system can become confused on coverage for dependent benefits since the prior election would not cover all dates of coverage.
  • As an option, you may choose to change the deduction date of a benefit.  The system will currently deduct the benefit through pay schedules matching the benefit dates you created above.  If the deduction start or end dates are altered here, you can change that to the specified date you would like deductions to begin.  Occasionally, this is used with benefits like F.S.A. or H.S.A.

Additional Options

For each benefit you create, you will need to pay attention to the additional options listed at the bottom of the benefits properties tab. These checkboxes dictate many properties within the benefit and decide the capabilities you have within the reporting tools.

• COBRA Eligible Benefit - Selected if the benefit is eligible for COBRA, and COBRA providers need to be communicated with when employees are eligible or ineligible from termination or employee Status.
• Require Beneficiaries for this Benefit - Selected if Beneficiaries are required for assignment in an event once the employee elects the benefit. Beneficiary assignments would be initiated for these elections so that employees can decide which beneficiaries get their coverage in case something is to happen to them or dependents. Commonly used for benefits like Basic Life, Voluntary Life, 401k or Retirement, and AD&D.
• Do not display Covered Dependents section for this benefit - Selected when dependents should not be seen or made available for employees within an event or benefit edit from an admin view. Commonly seen in benefits like Dependent Basic Life.
• Prompt for Coordination of Benefits information during Enrollment - Selected if employees need to notify employers of any dependents that are covered under any other plan. Employees will be given the option to provide Policy #, policy holder name, and policy holder ID.
• Enable auto-scrolling on the Enrollment Screen if record count exceeds 20 records - For voluntary benefits like employee Voluntary life that have more than 20 coverage options. Employees are given a scrolling box for a quicker view of coverage options instead of scrolling to the bottom of the election page.
• Allow the employee to elect whether they would like their cost taken on a Pre or Post Tax basis - Gives the employee the option to take benefit deduction out on a pre or post tax basis. More common today with Healthcare reform and the options employees are receiving from carriers for deductions.
• When terminating this benefit for an employee the Benefit Termination Date should default to the Employee Termination Date - Selected if the benefit termination date must match employee termination date. If the benefit continues to run until the end of the month of termination, this option would not be selected and the benefit will end on the last day of the month in which the employee was terminated.
• Include this benefit in Payment Coupons that are generated for Employees - Selected for Payment Coupon Generation if the employee elects or waives benefit being built.
  • Payment Coupons must also be built in Advanced Setting under Settings>Benefit Management>Advanced Settings. For more information about payment coupons, you can refer to the following article.
• This benefit shall be eligible for Spending Credits (a Spending Credit Benefit Type benefit must exist for this Package) - Usually needing to be the first benefit in the benefit structure where the employee is given an allotment for money for benefit election. Used in benefits like Transportation where the employee gets credits to use for a specific action like parking.
• Include this benefit in Imputed Income Calculations - Term Life will commonly have imputed income rates if the benefit is employer paid but employee is responsible for taxes on that benefit from age banded configuration.
  • See also Settings>Benefit Management>Advanced Settings>Imputed Income if selected as rates must also be configured within system. For more information about Imputed Income, you can refer to the following article.
  • Under System >Export Logs>Imputed Income Log you will see your log each month. For more information about imputed income logs, you can refer to the following article.
• Use the Spouse's age in age banded calculations (where applicable) - Benefits can either look at employee’s age for age banded rates or Spouses age for benefit in question. You decide here which age system needs to look at. This will be common in Spouse Voluntary Life benefits. If left uncheck, then system will only look at employees’ age. Only one age can be looked at per benefit.
• Include in One-Click Report of Form W-2 Reporting of Employer-Sponsored Health Coverage - If benefit needs to be included in one click reporting tool for W2. This will not affect benefit screen for employee or administrator.
• This Benefit will be enrolled via an Integrated Voluntary Benefit system and should only appear on the Review Tab of Events - Selected for benefits where employees are transferred to carrier site for elections. Employee will make election with carrier and carrier will return elections to HRIS system. Carriers listed below are eligible for this option within the HRIS. The carriers that are eligible are:
  • Unum
  • Aflac
  • Trustmark
  • Humana
  • Allstate
  • Colonial Life
• Exclude this Benefit from appearing on Benefit Statements - Selected if benefits need not to appear on benefit statements. Occasionally used for employer paid benefits if employer wishes not to report this data to employees.