A Easy Benefits Renewal & Open Enrollment Checklist
Benefits renewal season is underway and many employers are facing the same challenge — balancing rising costs and employee satisfaction. Whether you’re a startup finalizing your first offerings or an established employer re-evaluating your entire benefits program, a proactive renewal and open enrollment strategy sets the tone for the year ahead.
Step 1: Start Early and Set a Strategy
Preparation should begin at least three months before open enrollment. There are unfortunately situations where brokers and/or carriers may be slow in getting you renewal information to shorten the timeline and hasten decisions. Be sure to give yourself a few months for data collection, plan comparisons, and stakeholder alignment. For a January 1st renewal, that means now!
Define objectives for the renewal period: lowering total cost, improving employee satisfaction, or introducing new benefit options like HSAs or lifestyle stipends.
Step 2: Know What Is Working and What Is Not
Gather a full summary of all benefits (health, dental, vision, life, disability, and voluntary add-ons) and breakdown of participation and utilization. Send out employee satisfaction surveys to understand changing priorities around family coverage, wellness, and financial benefits.
You need to know what your employees are using, what they like, and what they think is missing in order to make effective decisions.
Step 3: Show Up Prepared for Negotiations
Renewal discussions with brokers or carriers should focus on the total value delivered — not just premium rates. Do not accept the initial renewal increase that your broker or carrier may present. If you have access to it, leverage year-over-year claims data and participation trends to negotiate better terms. A little data collection can go a long way.
For small employers, exploring pooled or PEO-based plans may unlock significant savings while maintaining quality coverage.
Step 4: Decide Between Active vs. Passive Open Enrollment
Each method has trade-offs…
Enrollment Type | Advantages | Challenges |
|---|---|---|
Active Enrollment | Keeps employees engaged, updates records timely, ensures thoughtful plan selection | Requires more HR effort and communication |
Passive Enrollment | Easier administratively, fewer missed deadlines | Risks under-informed renewals and missed new offerings |
Most modern teams adopt a hybrid approach — passive by default, with prompts for employees to confirm details or explore new plans.
Step 5: (Over) Communicate and educate
Announce open enrollment timelines well in advance and use multiple touchpoints — internal chat, email, or payroll portal pop-ups. Simplify plan comparisons with visuals and decision aids. Leverage resources that your carrier or broker may offer such as webinars, 1on1 consultations, etc.
The goal: help employees understand the “why” behind each benefit option, not just the “what”.
Step 6: Execute, Audit, and Improve
Once enrollment closes, do a post-enrollment audit to ensure no payroll mismatches and all dependent and beneficiary details are provided.
Finally, collect feedback to refine next year’s process — an often-missed step that builds continuous improvement into your renewal rhythm and makes sure your employees feel involved.
A Closing Thought
Renewals and open enrollment are a critical time to take care of employees while looking out for the long term health of the company. When handled strategically — with clear planning, communication, and modernization — benefits administration transforms from an annual burden into a retention asset.
If you are interested in shopping your benefits options or want a consultation with a licensed benefits advisor, Rollfi can help!
About Rollfi
Rollfi empowers banks, vertical SaaS platforms, accounting firms, and fintechs to add payroll and benefits to their offerings through white-label solutions and robust APIs. With Rollfi’s infrastructure, platforms can unlock new revenue, boost customer retention, and gain valuable payroll data insights. Fast deployment and full regulatory coverage make Rollfi the easiest way to turn your platform into a one-stop shop for essential business services.
Benefits renewal season is underway and many employers are facing the same challenge — balancing rising costs and employee satisfaction. Whether you’re a startup finalizing your first offerings or an established employer re-evaluating your entire benefits program, a proactive renewal and open enrollment strategy sets the tone for the year ahead.
Step 1: Start Early and Set a Strategy
Preparation should begin at least three months before open enrollment. There are unfortunately situations where brokers and/or carriers may be slow in getting you renewal information to shorten the timeline and hasten decisions. Be sure to give yourself a few months for data collection, plan comparisons, and stakeholder alignment. For a January 1st renewal, that means now!
Define objectives for the renewal period: lowering total cost, improving employee satisfaction, or introducing new benefit options like HSAs or lifestyle stipends.
Step 2: Know What Is Working and What Is Not
Gather a full summary of all benefits (health, dental, vision, life, disability, and voluntary add-ons) and breakdown of participation and utilization. Send out employee satisfaction surveys to understand changing priorities around family coverage, wellness, and financial benefits.
You need to know what your employees are using, what they like, and what they think is missing in order to make effective decisions.
Step 3: Show Up Prepared for Negotiations
Renewal discussions with brokers or carriers should focus on the total value delivered — not just premium rates. Do not accept the initial renewal increase that your broker or carrier may present. If you have access to it, leverage year-over-year claims data and participation trends to negotiate better terms. A little data collection can go a long way.
For small employers, exploring pooled or PEO-based plans may unlock significant savings while maintaining quality coverage.
Step 4: Decide Between Active vs. Passive Open Enrollment
Each method has trade-offs…
Enrollment Type | Advantages | Challenges |
|---|---|---|
Active Enrollment | Keeps employees engaged, updates records timely, ensures thoughtful plan selection | Requires more HR effort and communication |
Passive Enrollment | Easier administratively, fewer missed deadlines | Risks under-informed renewals and missed new offerings |
Most modern teams adopt a hybrid approach — passive by default, with prompts for employees to confirm details or explore new plans.
Step 5: (Over) Communicate and educate
Announce open enrollment timelines well in advance and use multiple touchpoints — internal chat, email, or payroll portal pop-ups. Simplify plan comparisons with visuals and decision aids. Leverage resources that your carrier or broker may offer such as webinars, 1on1 consultations, etc.
The goal: help employees understand the “why” behind each benefit option, not just the “what”.
Step 6: Execute, Audit, and Improve
Once enrollment closes, do a post-enrollment audit to ensure no payroll mismatches and all dependent and beneficiary details are provided.
Finally, collect feedback to refine next year’s process — an often-missed step that builds continuous improvement into your renewal rhythm and makes sure your employees feel involved.
A Closing Thought
Renewals and open enrollment are a critical time to take care of employees while looking out for the long term health of the company. When handled strategically — with clear planning, communication, and modernization — benefits administration transforms from an annual burden into a retention asset.
If you are interested in shopping your benefits options or want a consultation with a licensed benefits advisor, Rollfi can help!
About Rollfi
Rollfi empowers banks, vertical SaaS platforms, accounting firms, and fintechs to add payroll and benefits to their offerings through white-label solutions and robust APIs. With Rollfi’s infrastructure, platforms can unlock new revenue, boost customer retention, and gain valuable payroll data insights. Fast deployment and full regulatory coverage make Rollfi the easiest way to turn your platform into a one-stop shop for essential business services.
Benefits renewal season is underway and many employers are facing the same challenge — balancing rising costs and employee satisfaction. Whether you’re a startup finalizing your first offerings or an established employer re-evaluating your entire benefits program, a proactive renewal and open enrollment strategy sets the tone for the year ahead.
Step 1: Start Early and Set a Strategy
Preparation should begin at least three months before open enrollment. There are unfortunately situations where brokers and/or carriers may be slow in getting you renewal information to shorten the timeline and hasten decisions. Be sure to give yourself a few months for data collection, plan comparisons, and stakeholder alignment. For a January 1st renewal, that means now!
Define objectives for the renewal period: lowering total cost, improving employee satisfaction, or introducing new benefit options like HSAs or lifestyle stipends.
Step 2: Know What Is Working and What Is Not
Gather a full summary of all benefits (health, dental, vision, life, disability, and voluntary add-ons) and breakdown of participation and utilization. Send out employee satisfaction surveys to understand changing priorities around family coverage, wellness, and financial benefits.
You need to know what your employees are using, what they like, and what they think is missing in order to make effective decisions.
Step 3: Show Up Prepared for Negotiations
Renewal discussions with brokers or carriers should focus on the total value delivered — not just premium rates. Do not accept the initial renewal increase that your broker or carrier may present. If you have access to it, leverage year-over-year claims data and participation trends to negotiate better terms. A little data collection can go a long way.
For small employers, exploring pooled or PEO-based plans may unlock significant savings while maintaining quality coverage.
Step 4: Decide Between Active vs. Passive Open Enrollment
Each method has trade-offs…
Enrollment Type | Advantages | Challenges |
|---|---|---|
Active Enrollment | Keeps employees engaged, updates records timely, ensures thoughtful plan selection | Requires more HR effort and communication |
Passive Enrollment | Easier administratively, fewer missed deadlines | Risks under-informed renewals and missed new offerings |
Most modern teams adopt a hybrid approach — passive by default, with prompts for employees to confirm details or explore new plans.
Step 5: (Over) Communicate and educate
Announce open enrollment timelines well in advance and use multiple touchpoints — internal chat, email, or payroll portal pop-ups. Simplify plan comparisons with visuals and decision aids. Leverage resources that your carrier or broker may offer such as webinars, 1on1 consultations, etc.
The goal: help employees understand the “why” behind each benefit option, not just the “what”.
Step 6: Execute, Audit, and Improve
Once enrollment closes, do a post-enrollment audit to ensure no payroll mismatches and all dependent and beneficiary details are provided.
Finally, collect feedback to refine next year’s process — an often-missed step that builds continuous improvement into your renewal rhythm and makes sure your employees feel involved.
A Closing Thought
Renewals and open enrollment are a critical time to take care of employees while looking out for the long term health of the company. When handled strategically — with clear planning, communication, and modernization — benefits administration transforms from an annual burden into a retention asset.
If you are interested in shopping your benefits options or want a consultation with a licensed benefits advisor, Rollfi can help!
About Rollfi
Rollfi empowers banks, vertical SaaS platforms, accounting firms, and fintechs to add payroll and benefits to their offerings through white-label solutions and robust APIs. With Rollfi’s infrastructure, platforms can unlock new revenue, boost customer retention, and gain valuable payroll data insights. Fast deployment and full regulatory coverage make Rollfi the easiest way to turn your platform into a one-stop shop for essential business services.