11 Best Benefits Administration Systems (2024)
The best benefits administration systems, hand-picked and field-tested by SelectSoftware Reviews' HR tech experts. See info on pricing, features, integrations, and more below.
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Top Benefits Administration Software
As a benefits leader, you have the rewarding job of making your company a great place to work. After all, employee benefits packages and other perks can help you attract top talent, retain current employees, and build a culture that aligns with your values.
The downside, of course, is all the administrative work that benefit plans and benefits enrollment creates for you. Fortunately, benefits administration software can help you automate your benefits management, improve efficiency, and streamline open enrollment — all while staying compliant.
Benefits administration software serves as a one-stop-shop for all your employee benefits. With everything centralized, the setup and management is easier for you and open enrollment is easier for your employees.
The result? Employees make smarter, more informed decisions about their benefits, and you have less administrative work to manage. To help you find the right benefits management software, we put together the following guide with top software platforms, features to look out for, common mistakes to consider, pricing, and more.
We assessed dozens of benefits administration software platforms with special consideration given to the three most critical functions performed by this type of tool: integration/configuration, self-service for employees, and compliance.
We used our HR industry experience to refine the scope of our research and applied our multi-dimensional assessment process to test each contender for these quality standards.
- Integration and Configuration: First-class benefits administration software integrates smoothly with each customer’s tech stack.To test for this, our team compared the quality and quantity of integration partners against a list of common business ops tools.
Our HR tech experts also determined the most important workflow automations, and we audited each product for the ease with which a user could configure these features.
- Self-Service for Employees: Self-service features reduce the burden of data entry on your HR team, improve the accuracy of employee information, and support employee empowerment. Our expert researchers performed simulations using each tool as if they were an employee and graded each platform's performance on the ease with which they could enter and change information across different data types.
- Compliance: Legal compliance is imperative, so we scrutinized the fine print, checking for each company’s capacity to keep customers complaint. We considered the product's state-by-state adaptability, as well as its capacity to handle multi-national organizations.
We’re data nerds and love a good dashboard, so we also checked for each tool’s reporting and analytics capacity. To learn more about how we approach our work from the granular to the gigantic, read this article on how we assess HR tech vendors.
ForUsAll
Deel
Remote
Gusto
OnPay
Bennie
PapayaGlobal
Namely
Maxwell Health
Rippling
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ForUsAll
ForUsAll is a great choice for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) because it is very quick to set up and quite affordable.
PROS
CONS
ForUsAll is a cloud-based 401(k) administration platform for small and medium-sized businesses. Acting as both your 3(38) and 3(16) fiduciary, ForUsAll ensures you stay compliant while automating manual tasks such as contributions, 401(k) loans, eligibility tracking, hardships, and notifications. You can integrate ForUsAll with most cloud-based payroll systems for an automatic synchronization of your data. Payroll integration also allows it to automatically update deferrals, notify new participants when they become eligible, and more.
CMC Properties, Lever, Arbor Lodging, Smart Biz, Bolt Threads
ForUsAll costs as follows:
- For the employer: Employers using ForUsAll pay a base monthly fee of $120 with an addition of $6 per participant per month.
- For employees: Employees pay 0.50% of assets under management annually.
Best For
Deel
Deel localizes your offerings in accordance with local guidelines so that you can stay compliant with your global workforce.
PROS
- 24/7 in-app support and an impressively fast onboarding speed of 2-3 days.
- Access to local payroll experts in various jurisdictions, and support is available for contractors navigating the process of setting themselves up as an LLC.
- Smooth integration with Quickbooks, Bamboo, Greenhouse, and more
- Their self-service approach with tech-enabled features helps workers swiftly adopt the tool.
- Worker identity verification is reported to take less than 24 hours on average, and sometimes mere minutes.
- Automated invoices (English language only).
- One of the best features of Deel is its customer service. They offer 24/7 in-app support and the fastest-in-class onboarding speed of 2-3 days. Users get access to local payroll experts in each jurisdiction, and support is available for contractors facing challenges setting themselves up as an LLC.
- Integrates seamlessly with common platforms like Quickbooks, Bamboo, Greenhouse, and more. They also offer custom integrations to automate and sync processes.
- Self-service approach; tech-enabled features so customers can jump in quickly and easily. Our user researchers found it quite easy to set up: the identity verification process consistently took less than 24 hours, and in some cases, it took mere minutes.
- Automated invoices, which are a breeze to do as long as they’re in English, both on the company and the contractor or employee’s side.
CONS
- Some of Deel’s best features, like onboarding automation, are add-ons, which can be cost-prohibitive.
- Modifying contracts or service agreements with Deel is difficult and often requires addendums for any changes.
- Each payout comes with a $5 fee.
- Invoicing feature is limited to generating invoices in English, with no option for other languages.
- Some of Deel’s best and most powerful services, like onboarding automation, appear to be add-ons, which might be too costly for some companies
- There is little to no flexibility when it comes to altering their contracts or service agreements, so many changes would require an addendum.
- There is a $5 fee per payout
- As far as we’ve seen, it’s not possible to generate invoices in another language.
If your benefits-management needs feel complex due to the presence of team members in different geographies, Deel is worth looking into. They help with hiring and providing benefits and perks for people in various geographies. The benefits themselves would vary depending on the region. Still, you’d streamline their management through the same platform you’d use for payroll, contracts, timesheets, invoicing, and even some core HR functions.
As to the specific benefits offered, the best way to vet them is to go to their benefits tool on their website. You select a country and the type of benefits, and they present what they can provide. For example, if you want to hire in Canada, you can choose Statutory and/or Common benefits. These include employment and worker compensation insurance, transportation and electronic coverage, and certifications.
- Brex
- Doogle
- Duffel
- Andela
- HomeLight
- Makerpad
A cool thing about Deel is that you can sign up for free and play around with the tool, not being charged until you pay your first team member. Once you do, pricing for Deel will vary as follows:
- Contractors: At $49 per contractor per month, Deel takes care of payroll and compliance for contracts in 150 countries.
- Full-time: From $500, this plan lets you hire full-time employees in a new country without having to set up a legal entity there. Deel becomes an Employer of Record and hires the employee for you.
Best For
Deel is a good bet for those businesses that want to provide benefits on top of payroll for an overseas workforce, whether it’s through an EOR arrangement or for their contractors. It’s worth noting that they have a way for you to offer interesting perks apart from the law-required benefits.
I utilized Deel due to its international capabilities for hiring remote workers without needing a physical presence. It assisted in managing expenses, payroll, benefits, PTO, and ensuring compliance with labor laws in different countries such as India, China, and England. Replit also engaged contractors through the platform and hired in that way. This helped organize us while Replit was on a few different HR platforms such as Justworks, Culture Amp, and Rippling. I enjoyed using Deel as it was straightforward, and the key workflows made sense to me. It was easy to understand, and if I had any questions, I could chat with the representative right away.
- I appreciated Deel for its user-friendly interface and straightforward usability.
- It was easy to navigate and intuitive, which made managing tasks efficient.
- The sales representative I interacted with was highly competent and responsive, which enhanced the overall experience of using the platform.
Replit bought Deel because of its global capacities, and I have used it for six months. It helped with the global side of payroll and compliance. It assisted in managing expenses when people onboarded, traveled, and took paid time off or leaves of absence. Other considerations included hiring contractors on their platform, which made it easier to hire people from different countries. This greatly diversified the workforce.
- I found Deel somewhat costly, and accessing the backend could be challenging if you weren't familiar with its setup.
- It takes time to get familiar with different systems.
- Keeping up with international laws was occasionally problematic and required multiple communications to align everyone. I appreciate that Deel is actively expanding its platform to address these issues.
Deel stands out due to its strong innovation and proactive market presence. Compared to Rippling, they were more responsive, which led me to believe that we should have onboarded everyone onto their platform. Deel's proactive approach to innovation kept them ahead in the market, offering solutions that were more responsive and tailored to our needs compared to Rippling. Their platform's capabilities and customer service exceeded expectations, making the transition smooth and efficient. Deel proved to be a valuable partner in streamlining operations and enhancing our business processes.
When considering Deel as an HR person, think about the specific needs of your organization, such as managing remote workers across different countries and ensuring compliance with international labor laws. Evaluate Deel's platform for its user-friendliness, scalability, and ability to handle payroll and contractor management efficiently. Consider the responsiveness and support provided by their customer service team, especially in resolving issues related to backend access and legal compliance. Assess Deel's pricing structure to ensure it aligns with your budget and provides value for the services offered.
Deel has continually adapted to meet users' evolving needs by enhancing its platform's functionality and user interface, making it more intuitive and user-friendly. They have expanded their global capabilities, allowing businesses to manage remote teams across diverse jurisdictions seamlessly. Deel's responsiveness to customer feedback has led to improvements in customer support and backend accessibility, ensuring smoother operations for HR professionals managing payroll and compliance tasks internationally. These advancements highlight Deel's commitment to evolving alongside the needs of modern businesses, facilitating efficient and compliant workforce management worldwide.
Deel is well-suited for small and medium-sized companies, offering capabilities that cater to their needs effectively. One standout feature is the ability to update people's compensation promptly, which proves beneficial for companies planning growth and scalability. This feature ensures that organizations can adapt quickly to changing circumstances and reward their workforce dynamically, fostering a supportive environment for ongoing expansion.
Deel may not be ideal for very large companies that require highly complex and customized HR solutions. Its streamlined approach and user-friendly interface are more suited to smaller and medium-sized businesses. Larger enterprises with extensive and intricate HR needs might find Deel's capabilities less flexible or scalable compared to enterprise-level solutions that offer more robust customization and integration options.
Remote
While Remote is mainly known for their global payroll product, teams interested in options for benefits administration for internationally distributed teams should pay attention! That is because, unlike many vendors, Remote owns local entities in the countries in which they operate. This means, in very general terms, that its customers can offer their employees a more straightforward, more “local” experience regarding payroll and benefits.
PROS
- Remote provides flat rates, so you can easily compare its pricing with other vendors. The platform doesn’t add a markup on any benefits premiums.
- Self-service options for employees.
- Local specialists provide 24/7 support.
- Benefits plans are locally curated. Health, dental, vision, life, mental health support, and disability are all covered, as is pension/401(k).
- Helpful resources are available on their site, offering tips for specific to geographic regions.
- Equity-based compensation is available.
CONS
- Some employers reported a steep learning curve in learning to navigate the software.
- No off-cycle pay runs are available at the moment.
- Though the current live chat and email support have been great, there is no phone support users can reach out to.
- Remote offers limited integration options, yet you can access its custom API for free.
Remote lets you offer customized benefits packages to fit each country where you have employees. The platform enables compliance by providing country-specific benefits and perks that adhere to local laws. We like that Remote is one of just a few vendors that own local legal entities in countries that the platform services. Since it has no intermediaries, it can offer more flexibility and speed.
Though they were a bit hard to locate in their respective app stores, both the Android and iOS apps are in good shape – they are easy to use and equipped with essential features.
Arduino, GitLab, Paystack, Loom, cargo.one, Secureframe, Phaidra.
- Contractor Management plan: $29/contractor/mo
- Employer of Record plan: $599/employee/mo (when paid annually)
- Global Payroll and Remote Enterprise plans: Customized pricing – contact Remote for details
- Startup and nonprofit discount: Eligible startups and nonprofits can get 15% off EOR and Contractor Management services for 12 months.
- Refugee discount: Up to 10 employees free when hiring refugees
Best For
Remote is a robust solution for startups and distributed teams to provide their employees and contractors with country-specific benefits and easy onboarding and payroll.
- I used Remote on a monthly basis for contract management when onboarding new contractors by inserting job-specific information, which Remote then used to draft contracts in compliance with relevant employment laws and taxes, mainly in the Philippines and the US.
- For payroll management, I set up profiles for new contractors, prompting them to submit banking details. Invoices were uploaded monthly for payment, with notifications received for review and authorization.
- The finance department loaded funds into the system, and Remote handled currency conversion and payment release to the contractors.
- Remote drafts contracts to ensure compliance with employment laws in countries such as the Philippines and Portugal.
- The system's navigation is easy and seamless, saving time.
- Notifications update HR and line managers for approval once invoices are submitted, ensuring timely contractor payments.
- The reporting tool allows for the review of previous invoices and payments made to contractors.
My previous employer, Competitive Capabilities International, already had this tool in place when I joined, and I used the system for six months while employed there. The previous payroll processing system, SAGE VIP, was not as effective as the Remote platform for contractor payments. Remote also streamlined the drafting of contracts, ensuring compliance with employment laws without the need for legal counsel, which was time-consuming. This tool addressed the pain points of inefficiency and compliance, providing a more robust and automated solution for managing contractor payments and contracts.
- The limited usage of the tool makes it difficult to comment on any significant cons.
- I was satisfied with the required functions of the Remote system.
- There were no notable issues during my use of the tool.
I haven’t worked with a similar system for contractors before using Remote, but I was quite impressed with its functionality and ease of use.
- Usability and training: The system should be easy to use and navigate. I grasped the Remote system in a day.
- Compliance: Ensuring the tool adheres to employment laws and best practices is crucial to avoid fines.
- Security: The system should have multi-factor authentication to protect user data.
- Cost-effectiveness: Remote is more cost-effective than employing an individual for these services, allowing focus on more critical tasks instead of manual admin work.
The functionality and usage remained the same for me during my six-month period of use.
Remote is ideal for organizations with a remote workforce employed globally. It provides peace of mind by ensuring payroll and contracting compliance with each country's specific legislation. It benefits HR from contracting, onboarding, and payroll perspectives, and may also benefit finance departments depending on who handles payments.
Organizations with full-time, in-office staff or companies that do not have remote staff in different locations or countries would not benefit from this tool.
Gusto
Gusto provides full-service payroll services with benefits and HR. The software takes care of the administration and deductions by syncing them with payroll and makes things easier for you and your employees with its built-in employee self-service.
PROS
- Gusto has an eye-catching UI and is compatible with several devices.
- Automatic payroll deductions for easier benefits administration.
- The dashboard feature keeps tabs on compliance tasks.
- The hiring and onboarding sequence is nicely streamlined between HR and the new hire
- Post-offer, pre-start tasks are made easy with integrations like CorpNet and Checkr.
- Easy payroll for U.S.-based W-2 folks, domestic and international contractors.
- Phone support, email, and other customer service resources.
- Licensed benefits advisors for all plan users.
- The business model is responsive to customer needs.
- Transparent pricing structure. Doesn’t require long-term contracts.
- Free account setup.
- Ability to create onboarding checklists, send offer letters, collect signatures, and store all onboarding documents online.
- The dashboard feature keeps tabs on compliance tasks
- The hiring and onboarding sequence is nicely streamlined between HR and the new hire
- Post-offer, pre-start tasks are made easy with integrations like CorpNet (state tax set up) Checkr (background checks)
- Easy payroll for U.S.-based W-2 folks, domestic, and international contractors
- Person-to-person phone support, email, and other customer service resources
- The business model is responsive to customer needs
CONS
- Gusto facilitates payments for international contractors but not for employees.
- There is no built-in accounting feature, so the management of earnings and expenses can’t happen in one place.
- Analytics dashboard capabilities are underwhelming
- Simple plan users do not have access to native time tracking, necessitating third-party integrations.
- Users of the Simple plan cannot access federal and state compliance alerts – they are not even available as add-ons.
- Plus plan users have access to compliance alerts, but they must be added on.
- No free trial or free version
- Gusto can support payments for international contractors, but not employees
- No native accounting feature to keep earning and spending under the same roof
- Analytics dashboard is simplistic
We have had a positive experience with Gusto's benefits administration features. The software seamlessly integrates payroll and benefits administration, simplifying the process with automatic deductions and syncing capabilities. The built-in employee self-service functionality is also a nice touch that makes it easy for employers and employees to manage benefits and access relevant information.
Gusto's user interface is visually appealing. Being browser-based lets it provide a smooth user experience across multiple devices. Additionally, Gusto provides licensed benefits advisors to assist and guide users in optimizing their benefit plans.
We appreciate Gusto's customer-centric approach, as they remain responsive to customer needs and continuously improve their services based on feedback. Their transparent pricing structure and flexibility without long-term contracts add to the appeal. Moreover, Gusto offers free account setup, making it convenient for businesses to get started.
The availability of person-to-person phone support, email assistance, and other customer service resources reflects Gusto's commitment to providing excellent support. However, it's worth noting that some features, such as federal and state compliance alerts and integrating existing broker and health insurance plans, are only available in the Premium plan or as add-ons for the Plus plan. Simple plan users may need to consider third-party integrations for certain functionalities like time tracking.
While it doesn't offer a free trial, Gusto's consistent focus on core functionalities sets it apart from other platforms that often get sidetracked by unnecessary features.
American Canning, Matchless Builds, Citizen Pilates, Pain Clinic, Distant Moon.
- Simple: $40/month +$6/month/person
- Plus: $60/month +$9/month/person (limited time sale)
- Premium: call sales for customized plan options
- Contractor only (no W-2 employees): $6/month/person
Best For
Even budget-strapped startups can afford Gusto’s basic plan. For companies with some bank capital to invest in human capital, the top-tier Premium plan is a great choice, especially if they have an HR department of one person.
We used Gusto to manage payroll, streamline benefits administration, and centralize HR tasks. The platform simplifies payroll processing, ensures compliance with tax regulations, and automates various HR functions. Additionally, Gusto facilitates employee self-service, allowing individuals to access their pay stubs, tax forms, and benefit information conveniently. Its reporting tools provide valuable insights for strategic decision-making. Overall, Gusto plays a pivotal role in enhancing our HR efficiency and employee experience.
Gusto offers an intuitive interface that makes it easy to navigate various tasks. Their system consolidates our processes and reduces the need for multiple platforms. Additionally, they provide excellent customer support, offering timely assistance whenever needed.
We chose Gusto due to its comprehensive payroll, benefits, and HR solutions, streamlining our administrative processes. The user-friendly interface and automation features enhance efficiency. Overall, Gusto has been a valuable asset to our HR team.
- While Gusto is comprehensive, we have encountered some challenges with integrating it with other existing HR tools. Also, there are instances where we wished for more customization options within Gusto.
- Periodic updates to the platform have previously disrupted our workflow.
Gusto is a bit more user-friendly. Also, their comprehensive approach distinguishes them from competitors that may offer specialized services but not the same breadth of integrated solutions.
Ensure it aligns with your organization's specific needs and growth objectives. Also, look for a platform that is intuitive and requires minimal training for your team to navigate and operate effectively.
Given the dynamic nature of tax regulations and HR compliance, Gusto has demonstrated platform update agility. Over time, they have refined the platform's interface, making it more intuitive and user-friendly.
It seems to be best fit for smaller organizations.
A small team that is looking to grow and provide more impact for their organizations.
OnPay
OnPay ensures compliance and takes no upfront payment for its benefits administration software. When you decide to use it, you'll be connected with their team of licensed brokers so that your employees can get their favorite benefits from the best companies.
PROS
- Transparent pricing is among the most budget-friendly in the industry.
- Offers a one-month free trial.
- The plan combines payroll, benefits, and HR tools.
- Supports several pay types: regular hours, salary, overtime, and bonus. You can also create your own.
- Ability to act as an insurance broker to help businesses find medical, vision, and dental insurance in 50 states.
- Special payroll services for certain industries like restaurants, farms and agricultures, churches and clergy, and nonprofits.
CONS
- Incompetent mobile app with poor ratings (2.1/5) from iOS users.
- Limited integrations.
- Takes two to four days for direct deposit. No faster direct deposit option is available.
- Lacks advanced HR features like employee surveys and performance reviews.
We recommended OnPay because, besides being a solid cloud-based payroll software solution, it also offers features for HR management and benefits administration at an affordable, transparent monthly price. For businesses in certain industries like restaurants and agriculture, the platform also provides special payroll services (tip calculations, separate tax filings, etc.) without charging additional fees.
OnPay partners with several low-cost benefits administration providers so that you can choose several health insurances and 401(k) retirement plans for your employees. While we found that OnPay’s integration is quite limited compared to its rival Gusto, its feature-rich HR tools are offered without requiring users to upgrade their plans or pay more, making the platform a more cost-effective option for several startups and small businesses.
- OnPay charges a base fee of $40 plus $6 per employee per month.
- Setup and migration of employee data are free of charge.
- You can use the price calculator on their website to see exactly how much it’ll run you for your team size.
- One-month free trial is available on the website.
Best For
Businesses looking for an affordable software tool that can carry HR, payroll, and benefits in one place. Its special payroll offerings also make the software a better bet for businesses in industries like restaurants, farms and agricultures, churches and clergy, as well as nonprofits.
Bennie
Designed to make benefits more accessible and less complicated, Bennie is available both as a web and a mobile app. With it, employees can track claims spending, estimate cost of care, find a doctor, access a live concierge team, and more.
PROS
CONS
Bennie is a hub for your employee benefits information on a mobile-first platform. If employees have any questions about their benefits, they simply go to the app and interact with Ask Bennie, a smart healthcare concierge.
For employers, Bennie skips the typical brokerage experience. Instead, Bennie partners with major regional and national carriers to bring your company more personalized benefits. HR teams have their own backend to manage everything in one place. Customers also get access to strategic benefits and HR technology consulting.
- Schedulicity
- Superhuman
- Nabis
The Bennie app is free to use for your company and employees. Bennie shops around for the best plan for your company, and takes a commission from the insurance company you decide on.
Best For
Companies in the 50-500 employee range.
We used Bennie as our benefits broker. They handled getting quotes, setting up open enrollment, and presenting to employees. Bennie ran all the meetings associated with open enrollment and fielded employee questions.
They were most helpful with our employees, acting as an extension of our team and essentially becoming our benefits department. Their app made it easy for employees to access medical cards, understand plans, and get assistance.
Bennie saved me days of time each month by handling benefits questions. They also supported us with our HRIS system through their internal connections.
Working with Bennie's team is one of the best aspects of Bennie. They make benefits easy to understand for HR professionals and employees. Bennie prioritizes helpfulness over sales. Their app saves the HR team time and simplifies benefits navigation for employees.
Our company chose Bennie because our previous insurance broker was not very helpful. Bennie's team was supportive from the beginning, breaking down benefits concepts and information clearly. They also secured better pricing for our benefits. Their tech-focused and innovative approach was a significant factor in our decision. We used Bennie for at least two years while I was with the company.
I can't find much to dislike about Bennie. More clarity about timing for adding new employees to the system would be helpful. It would also help if customer success managers set specific dates for renewals. However, these issues are minor.
Bennie leads with helpfulness and acts as an extension of the HR team. They have been customer-focused from the start, with an amazing support team. While competitors may be catching up, Bennie was built on this helpful approach.
Consider the cost savings from a benefits perspective, as this is where most savings will come from. Time savings are also crucial; directing benefits questions to Bennie saved me a lot of time. Assess how they present information and whether they offer options and suggestions to improve your benefits strategy. Evaluate if they help you benchmark your current position.
They have increased their services and partnerships. As the benefits landscape changes, Bennie keeps up with these shifts.
Bennie is suitable for anyone looking to improve their benefits and benefits strategy.
Organizations with fewer than 100 employees headquartered in New York might not see as much savings due to NY laws and regulations around benefits pricing.
PapayaGlobal
Papaya Global lets you manage payroll and provide benefits for your employees and contractors, wherever they are. They operate in 160+ countries, most of them through their EOR model. Their benefits offering has evolved notably with time, encompassing telehealth services and other forms of holistic wellbeing.
PROS
- Employees get a personalized physical and mental health plan tailored to their location. They can then access these services through the web and mobile versions of the platform.
- Papaya ensures prompt payouts within 72 hours across 160+ countries through the platform.
- Transparent pricing with a 60-day money-back guarantee.
- Dedicated customer success managers in your time zone for localized assistance.
- The starter monthly fee is reduced to $12 per employee for full-service payroll.
- Papaya Global packs the EOR services you need to do global payroll and employment compliantly in over 160 countries.
- Automated payments in over 100 currencies, 80 of them directly to the worker's bank account through its global banking partners.
- Dedicated customer support providing locations-specific knowledge regarding employment and payroll.
- End-to-end payroll guaranteed payouts in 72 hours.
- Offers four standalone solutions: data and insights, supplemental benefits & immigration support, payment services, and employee data management, making the platform more affordable and scalable.
CONS
- Lacks local entities in some of the countries they operate in; no tax penalty guarantee information available.
- No free trial or plan is offered.
- Additional fees include setup, onboarding, cycle per employee, year-end fees, and a required deposit.
- Limited existing integrations, but free use of pre-built APIs and custom API integrations.
- No free trial or free plan.
- Doesn’t own entities in all the countries it serves. The platform forms relationships with existing local in-country partners to handle employment in a specific region on the client’s behalf.
- BI analytics reports and global immigration services cost additional fees.
- Charges extra fees for setup, onboarding, employee cycle, and tax filing. Also requires a refundable deposit.
- Built-in integration options aren’t very robust. However, the platform does offer pre-built APIs, SFTP, and custom API integrations for free.
Paya Global is one of the best platforms for handling international benefits and payroll. With Papaya Global, you offer an overseas employee a similar benefits package (including equity) as if you had an operating entity in their region.
They can do this both through the Employer of Record and Contractor models. Of course, the pricing varies for both cases. It’s also worth mentioning that the global benefits offering is an add-on, starting at $190 per employee per month.
Papaya Global has garnered high praise from both users we've interacted with and our editorial team. Our familiarity with the tool dates back to early 2021, and it immediately impressed us with its transparent pricing, extensive HR capabilities, robust BI analytics, and localized customer support.
The platform serves both employers and employees, offering seamless access to payroll, payments, and workforce analytics. It guarantees automated payments in local currencies, personalized benefit packages, and multilingual pay slips across 160+ countries.
That said, when considering Papaya Global for your global payroll software, remember that it may not have a local entity in the particular service region you need one and, when that is the case, they rely on third-party local partners. Note that while pricing transparency is a strength, additional expenses like setup fees per location, onboarding fees, cycle fees per employee, year-end tax filing fees, and a refundable deposit should be considered.
Wix, Intel, Johnson & Johnson, Toyota, Deezer, Fiverr, Microsoft
- Full-Service Payroll service: Starts at $12 per employee per month, with flexible options based on operational needs.
- Payroll Platform License service: Begins at $3 per employee per location for tech upgrades.
- Data and Insights Platform License service: From $150 per employee per month, offering real-time analytics on payroll costs and headcount.
- Payments-as-a-Service service: Starting at $3 per employee per month, delivering a dedicated workforce payment platform.
- Global EOR plan: Ranges from $650 to $1000 per employee per month for comprehensive EOR management.
- Contractor Management & IC Compliance plan: Tailored services for outsourced contractors, starting at $2 per contractor per month.
- Global expertise services: Starting at $190 per month per employee, this lets you add the global health plan, immigration support, and global equity for employees.
Best For
Papaya Global is a top choice for streamlining global payroll and benefits operations in countries with established entities, especially for businesses with international hires located within Papaya Global’s extensive country coverage.
Namely
Easy to navigate, Namely is extremely organized and uses the best-in-class technology. Its benefits administration software is integrated with its HR and payroll system to save time and complexity.
PROS
- Namely’s user interface is highly praised for its intuitiveness and cleanliness, allowing users to navigate the platform effortlessly despite its extensive features.
- Users appreciate Namely's employee onboarding module, which includes a user-friendly wizard that helps new hires quickly understand their tasks and responsibilities.
- In addition to the platform's built-in tools for data management, recruiting, onboarding, time off tracking, payroll, and benefits administration, Namely offers managed payroll and benefits administration services, alleviating the workload for internal teams.
- The majority of users are able to navigate Namely without any issues. They find the UI to be intuitive and clean, despite the fact that the platform has lots of features.
- Namely’s employee onboarding module gets a alot of praise from users. It features an easy-to-follow wizard, which helps new hires get on quickly and be clear on what they need to do.
- Besides the platform’s built in features for data management, recruiting, onboarding, time off tracking, payroll and benefits administration, there are also managed payroll and benefits administration services you can opt for to reduce the burden on your internal teams.
CONS
- Namely's primary focus is on the U.S. market, limiting its suitability for those seeking a global payroll and benefits provider.
- Implementing Namely can take a while, with an average implementation period of 6-8 weeks, according to the platform's own team.
- Namely lacks dedicated features for employee development, such as skill training, career pathing, and succession planning.
- Users should verify if Namely is compatible with their existing benefits provider, as there have been reports of Namely's team persuading customers to switch to providers that charge higher fees.
- Namely primarily operates in the U.S., which means if you’re looking for a global payroll and benefits provider, this platform isn’t for you.
- Though many praise the platform’s ease of use, it does take long to implement it. Namely’s own team says that an average implementation takes between 6-8 weeks.
- For a platform of Namely’s size, there currently aren’t any features that focus on employee development such as skill training, career pathing, succession planning etc.
- You’ll need to check beforehand if Namely can work with your existing benefits provider, if you have one. There have been a few reports (but not few enough to ignore) about Namely’s team convincing customers to change their benefits provider to providers that charged them more.
Namely’s comprehensive HR suite packs a range of features that make it an excellent choice for benefits administration. You can enroll your employees in, track, and manage various benefits programs such as health insurance, retirement plans, and flexible spending accounts. All of this is simplified through customizable online enrollment forms that provide employees with plan details. The software also allows for seamless integration with insurance carriers and third-party administrators to automate data transfers and reduce manual entry errors.
We appreciate a good reporting module, and the one Namely has can not only generate reports but also give you deep insights into benefits utilization, costs, and trends, which is a nice feature to have if you want to frequently improve your benefits plans and compete in today’s super competitive hiring landscape.
Over 1200 companies use Namely, including Greenhouse, The Channel Company, Life is Good, and OneLogin.
Namely does not disclose their pricing upfront. However, having no benchmark provides the unique opportunity to negotiate with sales to determine the right price for your company specifically.
Best For
Namely targets mid-sized companies. They specifically mention companies with 50-1000 employees.
Maxwell Health
A one-stop technology solution that merges your HR ecosystem with benefits administration system, Maxwell Health helps employees save time and make sound decisions about their benefits.
PROS
CONS
Maxwell Health, now owned by Sun Life Insurance, offers companies a modern approach to managing benefits for employees. From open enrollment to COBRA, they can help you stay compliant, and give employees a wide range of options all available through an easy to use mobile interface.
- Rose Street Advisors
- Taney County, Missouri
- Harrisburg University of Science and Technology
Maxwell does not release their pricing online. You will have to contact a sales representative.
Best For
If your company isn’t picky about what insurance company to work with, Maxwell Health’s partnership with Sun Life Insurance is ideal. You get a simplified end-to-end experience, requiring even less administrative work on your part.
Rippling
Rippling is geared toward SMBs with its terrific automation and built-in integrations. Besides common features like self-service and onboarding, the benefits administration tool lets you work with your picked broker within the app and choose benefits packages from over 4,000 plans.
PROS
- Rippling can operate globally with almost any currency.
- 500+ integrations.
- Automates issuance processes.
- Provides a holistic view of company outflows—headcount costs included.
- All-in-one platform for employee management + PEO services offered, and even a suite of other IT products
- With 500 integrations, it’s very likely that they integrate with other key tools from your tech stack.
- Operates globally with any currency
- Workflow automation
- Analytics opportunities
- Provides a holistic view of company outflows—headcount costs included
CONS
- Total buy-in to Rippling is essential.
- No free trial.
- Phone support is available via the HR Help Desk service, which costs extra.
- Very SMB-oriented, so perhaps not the best option for larger companies.
- Total buy-in to Rippling is essential
- Very SMB-oriented, in case you’re a larger company.
- New features tend to be buggy in ways that tech teams are not accustomed to fixing
Rippling is in a class by itself compared to other benefits administration software. With a remarkable 500 app connectors, it surpasses most vendors we've tested across multiple categories. This helps the tool not only perform standard features an average benefits tracking system does, like parsing a paper receipt image captured with a phone but can also contextualize spending activity within the larger framework of employee data.
We tested Rippling's benefits management features and discovered that despite being a relatively new solution, it stands out for its strong emphasis on automation. Alongside standard functionalities like online onboarding, benefits enrollment, and employee self-service portals, Rippling offers unique capabilities.
One notable feature is the ability to add your existing broker as a user or receive recommendations if you don't have one. Additionally, Rippling excels in automation by automatically updating employee deductions when qualifying life events occur, such as location changes or marital status updates.
In the past two years, Rippling has expanded its offerings to include time and attendance, talent management, learning management, licensed PEO services, and global payroll. Remarkably, the platform has maintained its eye-catching UI despite the additions. However, there are a few aspects to keep in mind.
While you have the flexibility to select and purchase modules separately, Rippling’s core HR offering is the starter plan for all iterations.
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Rippling's Core HR platform starts at $8 per employee per month. Contact Rippling regarding a custom Benefits Administration quote.
Best For
Rippling is best for small to medium-sized companies, globally or nationally distributed with multiple levels of organization.
As the Head of People Operations, my daily workflows rely on Rippling. Overseeing the employee lifecycle requires me to use a combination of onboarding/offboarding, reporting, benefits administration, performance management, and general employee data management on a weekly basis. From an onboarding/offboarding perspective, Rippling not only serves as the home base for information but also communicates timely and effective tasks to the necessary parties, ensuring a clear and compliance-first process. With Rippling’s ability to relay information to integrated accounts like Guideline and Carta, my role leans more into oversight, allowing me to focus strategically elsewhere.
Rippling centralizes the majority of the HR processes (+ Finance and IT, if you chose) that would otherwise be spread across multiple systems. For example, our company’s flex benefits, COBRA, and ACA were either managed with a carrier outside of our broker or manually by us and now Rippling handles the administration of all these areas in consolidation with our other health insurance benefits.
The strength of Rippling’s integration library allows for consistent and regular communication to and from Rippling for processes that are not directly managed within the system. For example, prior to Rippling, we manually onboarded and offboarded employees to/from Guideline. With Rippling, the systems speak to each other and manage the employee’s lifecycle with our company-sponsored 401k.
A highly beneficial aspect of Rippling is the workflow feature. Workflows have allowed us to set up Rippling in a way that allows it to speak within the system, initiate processes, and communicate to people/external systems. Rippling is a high-tech HRIS and a constantly progressing platform that meets the needs of today’s operations teams (HR, IT, Finance included).
We selected Rippling to implement a strong HRIS while centralizing other HR operations. By implementing Rippling, we were able to solve and improve several areas. First, we consolidated historical employee data from three to four different platforms into one, allowing us to use Rippling reporting to provide company trends. Second, we simplified benefits administration by transferring health insurance, Flex Benefits, COBRA, and ACA management to the Rippling platform. Third, Rippling offers a cleaner, more centralized, and highly integrated solution for our HRIS needs. I have been actively using Rippling for six months.
Rippling is a complex system. For it to be fully functional to the best of its ability it needs to be given the time to implement and set up in great detail. Knowing this, the implementation should have been much more hands-on. I’d recommend that whoever is leading the implementation internally has experience with other systems, so they know what to look for.
Rippling does not have an employee “notes” section. As the place I rely on for the most up-to-date employee job and personal information, it is missing the ability to keep it up to date with employee relations information directly in their profile. This is a feature I have experience with in other HRIS’s and is a missed opportunity in the Rippling platform.
Unlike BambooHR, a competitor, Rippling does not offer a “missing data” report. To find out who within the company is missing information, we will have to discover it when it is flagged during another unrelated process. I think this puts us at risk if we are unknowingly missing key information or signatures from any employee.
Rippling is a fully functional operations system with a large integration library. It provides HR with the necessary tools and offers Finance and IT tools. Incorporating various clouds and add-ons allows Rippling to carry an administrative weight heavier than its competitors.
Rippling is a complex system, so you should be prepared to invest time and attention to building a strong foundation during the implementation process. It can do a lot, but it needs to be built on the backend for the front end to function at its best. Since many tools within Rippling rely on one another, approach it with a big-picture philosophy for your organization’s intentions. Be clear about what you need during the discovery process, as Rippling has many features, but not all may be necessary for your company.
Rippling continues to introduce small improvements to existing features and entire tools, like performance reviews, and exclusive highly functional built-in integrations, like Carta. These developments are likely to continue as Rippling gains popularity in HR and Finance.
Rippling is highly flexible and can be strong for a wide range of companies. It can suit new startup companies (less than 50 employees) but may be best for 70+ and growing SMBs.
Businesses with more than 500 employees may outgrow the system.
Zenefits
Whether you're just getting started or looking for ways to improve your benefits, Zenefits can help you simplify your process. One of its best features is that employees get detailed reports on their benefits to see what's working.
PROS
- A well-known brand of HR tech and payroll software for SMBs
- UX/UI is above average in design and usability
- Flexible pricing plans allow companies to add features when needed, or get rid of them if they don’t
- It’s one of the top names in HR tech and payroll software for American small businesses.
- Their platform is one of the best-looking and easiest to figure out among the sector.
- Zenefits can grow with you. Its pricing plans allow you to pay and tweak as you go, add certain modules when you need them, or get rid of them if you don’t.
CONS
- Though focused on small businesses, the platform does not provide the option to create a custom bundle of desired services or modules. For instance, a standalone ACA module is not available, necessitating the purchase of an entire HRIS plan to access this feature.
- Primarily targets small to mid-sized companies, making it less suitable for enterprise organizations.
- Strong focus on the US market, so not ideal for teams primarily located in other countries, especially for certain modules like payroll and benefits that require local expertise.
- As oriented to small businesses as the tool is, it doesn’t give you the chance to create a custom bundle of the services and/or modules you’d like to have. For instance, Zenefits does not offer a standalone ACA module. Therefore, you will need to purchase an entire HRIS plan if you want to access that offering.
- In addition, Zenefits focuses on small to mid sized companies. If you're an enterprise organization, you may want to consider another option.
- Zenefits is also rather focused on the US market at this point. So, if your team is mostly in another country and you need more of a local know-how, it might not be the best bet for certain modules like payroll and benefits.
Zenefits offers benefits administration alongside their flagship HRIS product. The tool allows for employees to manage their benefits themselves on any platform they want, mobile or desktop.
For employers, you get detailed insights on your employees on top of saved time. In fact, Zenefits says that their customers save up to a full week of work by using their online enrollment tool alone.
- Coney Island Prep High School (NYC)
- MeUndies
- Goals for Autism
Zenefits has two methods of subscription, per employee per month or per employee per year. The three tiers are:
- Basic: $8/month billed annually or $10/month billed monthly (per employee)
- Growth: $14/month billed annually or $18/month billed monthly (per employee)
- Zen: $21/month billed annually or $27/month billed monthly (per employee)
Best For
Zenefits focuses on small to medium sized businesses. Enterprise corporations might want to find a solution that is more geared towards their size.
Zenefits is the HRIS system for everything from onboarding to termination. It's primarily used to ensure onboarding is compliant, with I-9s and documents sent out for signature. It's also used for payroll, which is mostly automated, but there are things we need to add and manage due to other taxable benefits. For benefits enrollment, Zenefits helps people sign up, although a separate broker with their own app is used to manage benefits. Zenefits is also used for managing and feeding into the system that handles COBRA during terminations.
- It's simple and easy to use, especially for employees who need to access information.
- It's relatively easy to set up and has additional features you can purchase for lightweight compensation data and performance reviews.
- It's inexpensive compared to other tools.
We shifted to Zenefits as our company grew and we realized we needed something more robust than Gusto. Zenefits gave us more control over admin access, payroll, and the deductions process, accommodating our business needs and perks. Initially, we believed the customer support would be better too. The organization has used Zenefits for five years now.
- Smaller companies tend to need support, and Zenefits support is still lacking and slow.
- They don't incorporate state registration, so you have to manage that yourself if you hire in multiple states.
- Their contractor management system is really simple and could use an update.
Zenefits is similar to Gusto—cheap and easy to use. The interface and reporting are generally adequate for most companies' needs.
Consider where you're hiring and whether the individuals are exempt or non-exempt. The more complex your employee population's needs are, such as having unlimited PTO for exempt but not for non-exempt employees, the more functionality you will require. Prioritize the functionality you need and want to spend less time managing before researching tools. When evaluating tools, ask for examples and have the team show you exactly how things work.
Zenefits has been slow to update the system, with the most significant changes being the addition of new functions and its acquisition by Trinet.
Zenefits can be a perfect fit for small to medium-sized businesses.
Large enterprises or companies with more complicated employee structures will not find Zenefits to be the right fit as it lacks capabilities to support that capacity.
Why Use Benefits Administration Software
As an employer, you are required to offer certain benefits (like health insurance and Social Security), while others are “nice-to-haves” that can help with recruiting and retention.
The more benefits you offer, the more administrative work you have to manage — unless, of course, you use benefits administration software. If you offer any or all of the following benefits, a benefits admin platform can streamline how you manage them — and how employees sign up for them:
- Social Security: A federal benefits program that provides insurance for older workers and their spouses, those whose spouse or qualifying ex-spouse have died, and the disabled.
- Worker’s Comp: Benefits given to employees who suffer work-related injuries or illnesses. It helps cover medical care, wages from lost wok time, and more.
- Health Insurance: A type of insurance that covers medical and surgical expenses. This is arguably your biggest benefits expense.
- Unemployment Insurance: A state-provided insurance that workers are eligible for if they lose their job and meet other requirements.
- Family Medical Leave: The Family and Medical Leave Act (also known as FMLA) provides up to 12 weeks of job-protected leave per year to care for a seriously injured or ill immediate family member (i.e. spouse, child, or parent). While the leave is unpaid, FMLA requires that health benefits remain intact.
- Vacation Time & Other Paid Leave: This can include a certain number of PTO days, sick days, and parental leave for your full-time employees.
- Affordable Care Act (ACA) Coverage: The landmark health reform, also known as Obamacare. Under the ACA, employers with 50 or more full-time employees are required to offer affordable, essential coverage to their full-time employees or choose to pay a tax penalty.
- Dental Insurance: A type of insurance that covers certain dental procedures and expenses.
- Vision Insurance: A type of insurance that covers certain vision procedures and expenses.
- Pet Insurance: A type of insurance that covers certain veterinary costs when your pet gets sick or injured.
- Wellness Programs: While these differ per company, wellness programs are designed to promote long-term health for employees. Some programs include discounts on gym memberships, providing on-site fitness classes, offering preventative health screenings, hosting stress management workshops, stocking kitchens with healthy snacks, etc.
- Financial Wellness: Financial wellness programs are designed to help employees take control of their finances so they can spend smarter, reduce debt, and save more money. Such programs include retirement/401k plans, student debt repayment, and more.
- Education Benefits: Also known as tuition benefits, education programs are designed to give employees opportunities to further their education. For example, some companies offer employees a reimbursement benefit up to a certain amount that covers classes, courses, certifications, etc.
- Life Insurance: A type of insurance that provides a lump-sum payment to the insured’s beneficiaries upon the insured’s passing.
- HSA & FSA: Pre-tax dollars that can be used for health-related and other approved expenses.
If you're not sure what benefits to offer at your company (besides, of course, the bare minimum requirements), consider who your full-time employees are.
In other words, what is important to them? For example, if the bulk of your employees are fresh out of college, a financial wellness benefit that helps them pay off their student debt will be a very attractive offering. You could also survey your employees if you're on the fence about a certain benefit to see if it’s something they actually want and would use.
Considerations for Employee Benefits Admin — Plus, Common Mistakes to Avoid
The features we just listed are pretty comprehensive, but benefits admin software won't take everything benefits-related off of your plate. Not only that, benefits management in general has its share of challenges. To make sure you do benefits "right," have successful open enrollment periods, and don't blow your benefits budget, here are six considerations and common mistakes to look out for:
- Choosing benefits that fit your company's need vs everything: As you probably already know, there are seemingly endless benefits you could offer to your employees. While it might be tempting to offer everything under the sun (which can be a great recruiting tool), you might end up creating more work and spending more money than it’s worth. In other words, you could wind up offering (and paying for) benefits that your employees don’t actually use. So think about what makes sense for your company and your employees — and start there.
- Not allowing employees to pick and choose benefits: By nature, people like having choices and making informed decisions for themselves. So give them different options so they can pick and choose the benefits that are right for them.
- Compliance with mandated benefits: Under laws like the Affordable Care Act, certain benefits are required for businesses of 50 or more full-time employees. If you don’t stay compliant, you could be charged fees. Fortunately, many benefits admin solutions offer automated compliance workflows so you can get the right forms to the right regulatory bodies when you need to.
- Knowing which benefits are offered tax free: Offering tax-free benefits are a win-win for your company and your employees. For example, tax-free benefits like health savings accounts, flexible spending accounts, commuter benefits, even tuition benefits can save your employees — and your company — money. After all, the income your employees set aside pre-tax for these benefits does NOT count toward your payroll tax dues. So, you could be leaving money on the table if you don’t offer tax-free benefits — or if your employees aren’t taking advantage of them.
- Costs can get high quickly: Your benefits offering can get expensive very quickly, especially when it comes to healthcare coverage. There are a variety of ways to keep your costs in check — from cost-sharing with employees (i.e. with increased employee contributions and higher deductibles), to changing vendor partners (like moving retirees from group plans to Medicare), to managing pharmacy spend (for example, encouraging the use of generic prescriptions or adding a narrow network).
Benefits & ROI
Benefits admin software can help your company in a myriad of ways. Here is a summary of the benefits we’ve mentioned:
- Compliance: At the most basic level, you’re required by law to offer certain benefits — and benefits admin software makes it easier for you to stay compliant with these laws.
- Less Busy Work: Because benefits admin software lets you automate the paperwork-heavy busy-work associated with benefits, your team will have more time to focus on other high-priority areas.
- Employee Satisfaction: Open enrollment will no longer feel like a chore for your employees — instead, they’ll be able to make smart enrollment decisions online and, in most cases, with just a few clicks. Offering a full-suite of benefits (that are easy to elect) will help you attract top candidates to your organization — and keep them once they’re hired.
- Smarter Investments: Because benefits admin software offers reporting, you’ll be able to see what benefits are being utilized the most — and which ones aren’t worth investing in further.
To get an idea of what benefits like these can actually do for your bottom line, check out our HR Tech ROI Calculators.
Pricing: What Employee Benefits Admin Platforms Cost
Most benefits admin platforms charge on a per-employee-per month basis and offer tiered pricing depending on the amount of features and functionality you’re looking for. We’ve seen pricing start as low as $8/employee/month.
When you have your demo(s), you should get a pricing plan that is customized for your company and needs. Just make sure that each quote you get breaks down the features that are included so you can easily compare and make the most informed investment for your company.
Features: What You Can Expect from Benefits Administration Software
Benefits administration software isn’t just a way to centralize your benefits management and alleviate the burdens of paperwork and other administrative tasks. They also offer a host of integrations and features to make your job easier, keep you compliant, save you money, and promote employee engagement. Let’s take a look:
- Suite of Benefits: Depending on the vendor you choose, you can manage all of your benefits in one place. We’ll talk about this later in the guide, but remember to ask your vendor(s) of choice which benefits are included with their solution.
- Online Enrollment & Self-Service for Employees: Allow employees to opt-in to their benefits elections themselves — and say goodbye to endless paperwork. With a safe and secure benefits admin platform, your employees can easily enroll in their plans of choice online — or even through a mobile app.
- Plan Configuration: Easily set up and manage all plans and benefits in one place. This not only makes things easier for your HR/people operations team, it also makes benefits shopping easier for your employees. They can more easily compare plans and sign up online.
- Payroll Integration: Integrate your benefits and payroll data so the right deductions automatically sync to each employee’s payroll record.
- Simple Onboarding: Make onboarding easy for new employees by centralizing all necessary paperwork and enrollment opportunities in one place. What’s more, if an employee leaves your company, you can just as easily un-enroll them and initiate COBRA.
- COBRA: Easily manage COBRA eligibility and compliance with automated reporting to your COBRA administrator.
- ACA Reporting: The Affordable Care Act requires employers with 50+ full-time employees to report healthcare coverage to the IRS. With benefits administration software, you can easily generate forms 1094 and 1095 and submit your reports for you so you stay compliant (and avoid fees).
- More Compliance: In addition to ACA and COBRA compliance, benefits administration software can help you stay compliant in other areas — and get ahead of changing regulations. This includes compliance with HIPAA (i.e. protecting employees’ Personal Health Information, or PHI), ERISA, the Dept. of Labor, the IRS, and OSHA.
- Reporting: Automate reporting of your HR data — including billing insights, headcount and attrition reports, job and salary reports, and more — to make more strategic, data-driven people decisions. You could even benchmark against other companies in your space to see if there are opportunities or areas of improvement.
As you develop your full benefits package, think about the features that would benefit your employees the most AND that would help make your job easier.
Demo Questions: What to Ask About Benefits Administration Software
We always recommend demoing a couple vendors so you can see their platforms in action before you actually invest. To prepare for your demos, create a list of questions specific to your company’s benefits needs. Here are some sample questions to get you started:
- What benefits does your platform have?
- What benefits do you find are most attractive to employees like mine?
- How can employees sign up for benefits?
- Can employees access their benefits plan on their phones?
- How does HR create a benefits plan?
- How will this solution fit into the rest of my tech stack and therefore what integrations do I need?
- How will others in the organization use this solution?
- What are the key features I want to ask about?
- What are the things that would make me nervous about buying this sort of solution?
Implementation: Getting Your Employee Benefits Software Off the Ground
The first step to implementing benefits admin software is figuring out what your suite of benefits looks like. From there — and based on the information you gathered during your demo — you’ll know what is required to get your platform of choice up and running. For example, you might need to engage your IT team to help with any necessary integrations.
Then, you’ll need to encourage utilization of the platform during open enrollment periods, for new employees who are onboarding, and for employees who are leaving and need to sign up for COBRA. To get employees to make their benefits elections before your open enrollment period ends, we recommend a variety of touch-points, including:
Software Training Sessions: If you're using a new system, you're going to need to train your HR or People Ops team on setting up and managing each benefit. Then, you'll need to introduce the platform to your employees so they know how to use it. You could do this a number of ways:
- Ask your vendor if they have pre-recorded training videos that you can share with your employees
- Meet with individual teams to walk them through the platform
- Give a brief demo of the platform at an all-staff meeting
All-Staff Emails: Send a note to the entire company at the beginning of open enrollment with instructions on how to use the platform, what actions they need to take by the deadline, what happens if they don't do anything, etc. Then follow-up with "last-call" reminders as the deadline approaches.
Engage Team Leads: Ask team leads and managers to remind their direct reports to make their benefits selections before the deadline.
Benefits Administration Software FAQs
What is benefits administration software?
Benefits administration software are platforms built specifically to plan and provide benefits packages to employees, while also maintaining compliance with government regulations.
Why use benefits administration software?
Benefits administration software streamlines all benefits operations, saving your HR team much needed time. In addition, all employee benefits data is held in one portal, meaning you can analyze all benefits information and create detailed reports about what benefits are used most or least. This provides you with valuable action points for benefits administration. Finally, letting software maintain compliance for you ensures simple, fast, and accurate reports to the IRS and other government entities.
What are some features of benefits administration software?
Features of benefits administration software include reporting, ACA and COBRA compliance, onboarding tools, plan configuration, self-service portal, online enrollment, and payroll integrations.
Next Steps for Your Employee Benefits Administration
Broadly speaking, there are two ways to get benefits admin support: a platform that only focuses on benefits admin or a more comprehensive Human Capital Management (HCM) suite that offers benefits admin as one of many HR features.
So, you’ll need to figure out which one will make the most sense for your company. We recommend demoing a couple vendors that fit into these two buckets so you can see how their solutions and features align with your needs and budget.
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