Section 125 Annual Elections

LindaS

Maybe I'm getting a little "burned out" but I'm wondering how many of you go back to the EEs after they have completed their annual Section 125 elections to ensure their election is actually what they want?

For example, I have many EEs who do not read the whole election form and simply sign that they are declining to participate in ANY of the plan, including pre-tax insurance premiums. Now I am relatively certain that most of them DO want their premiums deducted before taxes but I'm getting frustrated at having to "baby sit". I mean, these election forms are not hard to read, nor hard to understand, but these EEs don't even take the time to do this so is is my responsibility to go back and as, "Now are you SURE this is what you want?"

What do you do?

mushroomHR

It would depend on how many people you're talking about. If it were in my company of about 200 people I would not ask. I don't have the time to do that. I give employees information and expect them to read it. If they have a question or don't understand something I urge them to come and ask me but if they don't ask, I can't babysit. I sympathize with your burnout Linda.

njjel

If an ee comes to me with their election form and it says "none", then I inquire if they are aware of the premium option. Sometimes they change it to "yes" and other times, they still leave it as "no". I also send out a company wide email explaining that option prior to the open enrollment period.

atrimble

We've got separate forms for electing to pay insurance premiums pre-tax and choosing an amount to set aside in the flexible spending account.

We only have 52 employees eligible for these benefits, so I can actually tramp around to each work site/office and ask, but usually I just send mass reminders through payroll inserts or email. As far as making the Premium Only Plan election, I actually have the employees come to my office to complete the form so I can answer questions immediately. I've had only one person decline to participate - they expected extensive medical expenses that year and were going to take an itemized medical deduction and wanted to include their health premiums in medical expense calculations at tax time.

E Wart

Most of our 200+ employees understand the 125 form or understand the handout that I give them when enrolling. However, if they did put no, I would probably question them on this to make sure they knew what they were doing, just like I would if an employee included some but not all of his dependents on his coverage.
It is better to get it right the first time than to have an unhappy employee later.

E Wart