Employee benefits administration used to mean filling out a stack of papers and manually entering in information, and the process came with a lot of uncertainty. The modern solution to benefits administration means real-time access to information, as well as, increased visibility and control over information.
Benefits administration doesn’t have to be difficult. In fact, it should make the process of establishing, maintaining and managing employee benefits easier. Many payroll companies offer benefits administration with their payroll services, and using this service within your business can greatly help streamline your human resources department. Here are five reasons to outsource your employee benefits administration:
Streamline the benefits process
Using a company that is experienced in benefits administration can help you streamline and improve your benefits process. We all know how confusing it can be to read through a stack of papers outlining different options you have for benefits. Additionally, it can be hard to understand the different plan options and what it means to make those selections. Confusion can lead to choices that aren’t beneficial to you or your employee. Benefits administration technology can help reduce the confusion by helping to further the education process and provide more in-depth information about the different options.
Increases efficiency
A great employee benefits administration portal can help employers streamline their processes and find ways to reduce premiums for insurance policies and other programs. Benefits administration can also help employers create voluntary benefits packages. This is extremely beneficial if you don’t have an in-house HR department or if your current staff is busy managing other projects. It also removes the manual work of having to research and negotiate with individual carriers.
Shields liability
When you outsource your benefits administration, you shift the liability from yourself to the outsourced company. Outsourced companies have experience in benefits administration and keep up-to-date on the laws surrounding it. Using an outsourced benefits administration service can help protect your company during a lawsuit by putting up a wall between the employee benefits administrator and the people who make decisions about employees that are terminated.
Employee privacy
Talking about employee benefits in the workplace makes many people uncomfortable. On top of that, there are privacy concerns when it comes to discussing personal health benefits in the workplace. When you outsource your employee benefits administration, you remove the discomfort that an employee may feel when speaking to someone within his or her organization. Employees are able to speak freely about their benefits policies with someone outside of the organization who has experience handling questions similar to their own.
Easy integration with other services
When you use your payroll company for benefits administration you can ensure that all of your services will be integrated with each other. You can greatly increase efficiency in the workplace when you integrate all of your services with one provider. Integrating payroll management, HR services and benefits administration means that each program will be able to speak to each other, providing a more streamlined human resources experience.
