In order to use the Benefit Open Enrollment facility there are numerous set up requirements that must be fulfilled. There are many options available to allow for the various benefit requirements and to allow clients to tailor the screens and data to their liking. 


!Step 1: IBPT – Define Benefit Plan Types  
The following fields in [IBPT] are used for Open Enrollment purposes.

;[Plan Type|PLAN_TYPE_CODE]:This field holds the defined plan type code that uniquely identify the plan type. The Plan Type will be displayed in the [WEBOEE] form so it should be reflective of the plans within the type. 
;[Sequence|CALCULATION_SEQUENCE]:The Calculation Sequence field determines the order in which this plan type will be processed by payroll. This sequence is also used by the BSS module to determine the order the plan types are displayed to the employee in the election form ([WEBOEE]). If a sequence is not defined, the plan types will display in alphabetical order. Calculation_Sequence is a 5-digit numeric field provided by High Line but may be user altered.
;[Recipient Type|RECIPIENT_TYPE]:This can be used to define a recipient type if all of the plans linked to the plan type allow the same type of recipient to be enrolled. If an employee is only allowed to elect themselves in the plan, ‘Not Applicable’ should be used. If the plans allow for different participant types a recipient type can be defined at the coverage level. This field is used by the BSS module only. Recipient_Type is a fixed lexicon ([X_PLAN_RECIPIENT_TYPE])

;[Plan Type URL |PLAN_TYPE_URL]:A URL can be defined to provide the employees with a link in to external documentation that may provide additional information on each plan within the plan type, or to a carrier’s website.  This will be displayed on the SS election form [WEBOEE] beneath the Election Intro ext.

;[Description|DESCRIPTION]:Ensure a description has been defined and is reflective of the plans within the plan type as this will be visible in [WEBOEE]. Basic HTML tags can be used to tailor the look of the text. 

;[Election Intro Text|ELECTION_INTRO_TEXT]:This field is used to include introductory text to the plans in the [WEBOEE] form.  This can be used to provide additional instructions to employees. Basic HTML tags can be used to tailor the look of the text. 



!Step 2: IMLN- Maintain Lexicons
;[X_PLAN_ELECTION_SET]: A common requirement of benefit elections is that an employee is eligible to a set of plans that are offered from different carriers and are mutually exclusive of one another (the employee is only allowed to elect one plan from the set). The application is able to handle this requirement by grouping these plans into a “[Plan Election Set|PLAN_ELECTION_SET]”. A plan set code is used to group these plans together. The plan set code is user defined in a lexicon called [X_PLAN_ELECTION_SET] in [IMLN]. The plan set code should be reflective of the type of plans included in the set. The plan set code is then added to [IBPN] to each of the plans to be included in the set. 

;[X_BE_DECLINE_REASON]: Before employees can submit their elections, they may be prompted for a decline reason for the elections they declined. This decline reason is based on the lexicon [X_BE_DECLINE_REASON]. This is a user defined lexicon which clients should populate with suitable decline reasons, unless the client will not be requiring decline reasons in which case the lexicon does not need to be updated.


!Step 3: IMST – Define Client Site Information 
By default decline reasons are required; however, if it is a client’s policy not to require reasons for declines, the site preference [BSS D REASON REQ] must be defined in [IMST] with a value of N. 

!Step 4: IPPGU / IPPGC – Define US/CDN Pay Categories 
In order to determine which pay frequency detail record to use to calculate the EE and ER period/monthly/annual calculations, a new pay category is required with the [pay category type|PAY_CATEGORY_TYPE] ”Open Enrollment”.  This category will not be used by any payroll calculations. 

!Step 5: IPPF – Define Processing Frequencies
The new pay category must be added to all of the pay frequencies that are used by the benefit plans associated to the Events for Open Enrollment. In [IPPF], the [Times Per Year|TIMES_PER_YEAR] field for this category must be populated with the number of times per year that the benefit plan is to be processed by payroll.  This number will be used in conjunction with the rate basis for the category in the EE and ER calculations. 


!Step 6: IBPN – Define Benefit Plans/Coverages
There are certain fields in [IBPN] that should be defined to accommodate the Open Enrollment process. These fields are listed below:

;Plan Details

;[Description|DESCRIPTION]:The description of the benefit plan should be descriptive of the plan as this will be displayed to the employees. 
;[Plan Election Set |PLAN_ELECTION_SET]:Specify a plan set code if the benefit plan is part of a Plan Election Set. The plans within the Plan Election Set must be part of the same plan type. Since Plan Election Sets are used when plans are mutually exclusive of one another, they can only be implemented if the client already restricts the employees to only enroll into one plan. If employees are currently enrolled in multiple plans that are to be included in the same plan election set, the enrollments for these plans must be first declined before the plans can be tied to a plan election set, otherwise there will be errors when the OE period is generated. This field is tied to the lexicon [X_PLAN_ELECTION_SET].
;[Open Enroll Allowed |OPEN_ENROLLMENT_ALLOWED]:If the benefit plan is to be included in the Open Enrollment process then the Open Enroll Allowed field must be populated with either ‘Always Open’ or ‘OE Periods Only’. Always Open will ensure that the benefit plan is always open to employees to elect into. OE Periods Only ensures that the benefit plan is only open during the OE Period. If the benefit plan is never to be used by the Open Enrollment process then select ‘Never Open’. This field is tied to the lexicon [X_BE_OE_ALLOWED].
;[Approval Required|APPROVAL_REQUIRED]:Approval logic can be enabled at the plan level. Clients can choose No Approval Required, Approval Required (Approval is required for Open Enrollments with new elections, existing elections with changes and declined elections.), or Apr Req for Chgs Only (Approval is only required for changes made to elections). This field is tied to the lexicon [X_BE_APPROVAL].
;[Display Sequence|DISPLAY_SEQUENCE]:A display sequence is used to determine the order the benefit plans are listed in the [WEBOEE] form in Self Service. 
;[Grandfathered|GRANDFATHERED]:This will indicate if the benefit plan has been ‘grandfathered’. This field is currently only supported in Open Enrollments, it is not currently respected in [IBEL]. For Open Enrollments, this will restrict new employees from being elected into the plan. Any grandfathered plans will not be included in the Open Enrollment process. 
;[Required Documents|ELECTION_INTRO_TEXT]:Any documents that are required to be uploaded by the employee during the Open Enrollment must be listed here. This field will be visible in the third tab in [WEBOEE] to indicate to the employee what documents are needed for each plan. If none of the coverages in the plan require documentation, this field should be left blank.  
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;Coverages

;[Recipient Type|RECIPIENT_TYPE]:This field determines the recipient eligible for the coverage. This field is used for Open Enrollments. Recipient_Type is a fixed lexicon ([X_PLAN_RECIPIENT_TYPE]). If the coverage is only available to the employee, ‘Not Applicable’ must be selected. The type of recipient defined at the coverage will filter the list of benefit recipients available to the employee for that plan during the election period. The filtration is done by comparing the recipient type lexicon values to the stored values of the [relation lexicon|X_RELATION] in [IECT]. The system will check for a recipient type at the coverage first, if none are found it will then check the plan type to see if one has been defined at that level. If the system cannot locate a recipient type for either the coverage or plan type, all of the employee’s contacts defined in [IECT] will be listed for the employee to elect.
;[Display Sequence|DISPLAY_SEQUENCE]:This will determine the order the coverages are listed within the plans in [WEBOEE].
;[Waiting Period|WAITING_PERIOD]:If there is a waiting period before an employee is eligible for the plan, specify the number of days. 
;[Minimum hrs/wk|MINIMUM_HOURS_PER_WEEK]:Used when an employee must work a minimum number of hours per week to qualify for the plan.
;[Max # Recipients|NUMBER_RECIPIENTS]:If the coverage is only available to a specific number of recipients, define the maximum number allowed.
;[Max Child Age|MAXIMUM_CHILD_AGE]:If the coverage is open to children and there is an age restriction, state what the maximum child age is. The election process will verify the recipient’s age based on their birth date defined in [IECT]. 
;[Max Student Age|MAXIMUM_STUDENT_AGE]:If the coverage is open to students and there is an age restriction, state what the maximum student age is. The election process will verify the recipient’s age based on their birth date defined in [IECT]. This will only be in effect for those recipients who are defined as Students in [IECT].
;[Evidence Required|EVIDENCE_REQUIRED]:If evidence is required before an employee can be enrolled into a plan, then this should be toggled ON. 
;[Estimated Costs|ESTIMATED_COSTS]:If the EE and ER costs are based on estimated earnings the Estimated Costs toggle should be checked ON. With this ON there will be a notation displayed for the coverage’s cost in [WEBOEE]. 
;[Pre Tax|PRE_TAX]:With this toggle checked ON, this will identify to the employee in [WEBOEE] if the coverage is Pre Tax or Not. 
;[Exclude From OE|EXCLUDE_FROM_OPEN_ENROLLMENT]:A coverage may be excluded from an Open Enrollment by checking this toggle ON. 
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;Components
;[OE Enter Elections|ENTER_ELECTION]: This is only used in BSS for Open Enrollments. This toggle must be checked if an employee must submit information before electing a coverage, such as a Deduction amount for a Flex Spending account. This will prompt the employee for the necessary information. Again, if the BC is not visible in [IBEN] then the BC will not be visible in [WEBOEE].
!Step 7: IBSC – Define Benefit Schedule
If new plans have been defined, ensure they have been added to the benefit schedule. 

New to the [IBSC] are the [Waiting Period (Days)|WAITING_PERIOD] and [Minimum Hrs/Week|MINIMUM_HOURS_PER_WEEK] fields. Any data supplied here will override what has been defined for the coverage. 


!Step 8: IDGR – Define Groups
Clients can determine which set of employees are eligible for Open Enrollment by checking ON the toggle [Enable OE Elections|ENABLE_OE_ELECTIONS] in [IDGR]. Only employees tied to a group with this ON will be able to process Open Enrollments. 

!Step 9: IBET – Define Benefit Event Types
Open Enrollment is triggered by events whether those are life, work, mass open enrollment or ad hoc events. 

Clients are required to define event types that will suit their needs, this is done in the [IBET] form. Common event types are Mass Open Enrollment, Birth of Child, Marriage, Adoption, Divorce, New Hire, Termination etc.. 

Tied to each event type are the benefit plans that employees will be eligible to elect into or make changes to. 


!Step 10: IMFD – Maintain Form Definitions 
In order for the employees’ election choices to be automatically saved when entered in [WEBOEE] the Auto Commit preference must be added to the [WEBOEE] screen.  The value for the preference must be Y. 

Headers and Footers can be used to tailor the [WEBOEE] screen. If headers and/or footers are to be used, the preferences Header and/or Footer should be added to the screens in [IMFD]. 

If birth certificate, marriage license or health questionnaire do not meet your business needs, the form item name prompts for these documents may be translated to something else. These media are used in [WEBOEE], [IBPOE] and in [VBOEE].

Additional media may be added to the [WEBOEE] form if documents other than birth certificate, marriage license, or health questionnaire are required. Media codes must first be defined in [IMEC] for [P2K_HR_IDENTITIES]. These new media codes would need to be added to the form definition for [WEBOEE], [IBPOE] and [VBOEE]. The three existing media codes in [WEBOEE] can be used as an example.



!Step 11: IMRO – Define Roles 

In order for employees to make use of Open Enrollment execution rights for the Open Enrollment, forms and reports must be given to the appropriate execution type roles. 

Since there are two My Benefit Elections forms, [WEBEL] and [WEBOEE], ensure that execution rights are granted to only one of the forms. To make use of Open Enrollment, employees must have access to [WEBOEE].
 
Access to the following new forms and reports should be granted to the appropriate users: [IBET], [IBOE], [IBPOE], [VBOEE], [IBEV], [RBET], [RBOE], [UBOE], [UBPOE].