Managing Insurance Benefits with HRMS

When it comes to insurance in the context of employee benefits, healthcare plans spring most readily to mind, especially with the ongoing saga of the PPACA and Obamacare. However, there are of course a number of other insurance benefits, regularly offered by employers as options within their total reward package and in the average workforce of four generations, the differing employee needs ensure a rainbow of employee benefits profiles. Just like any other benefit, HR insurance administration is made easier with a little automation.

The kinds of policies we’re talking about include life insurance – both employer-paid and the voluntary employee-paid varieties – which can be used as a method of income saving or investment and may even include funeral planning services; property insurance – the kind that protects employees from liability for property damage during the course of their employment, or the kind that provides non-work-related cover for their own homes, automobiles, or properties that they rent to others; and also disability insurance – again, a choice of employer- or employee-paid plans that ensure a continued income in the event that injury, accident or illness prevents the employer from working.

With the common combination of standard all-employee and voluntary employee-choice options, the various insurance policies – particularly in a large organization – can add an extra layer of complexity to benefits management and recordkeeping. At the very least, a good HRMS system can ensure that HR insurance administration duties are covered, including giving all workers access to their own up to date benefits statements via employee self-service.

For employees to make the right choices of voluntary benefits, information is critical; both concerning the voluntary cover on offer and also the ‘as-standard’ cover so that they can compare the offer with their needs and see clearly where the gaps might be. A good HRMS portal will offer self-service access to comparison tables, allowing employees to see plan details, eligibility requirements, predicted benefits and costs.

When it comes to financial reporting and analytics on HR insurance, information is available to decision-makers. The right bespoke reports can shed new light on employer budgets and expenditure as well as easily highlight which policies and benefits are being taken up, how much in contributions is being paid, and what level of claims are being made. In fully-integrated systems (for example, where the HRMS is linked to other business intelligence systems such as payroll and enterprise resource planning) this reporting functionality can be cross-referenced with other data to give deeper insights regarding employee demographics. Furthermore, such reports are often available ‘on the fly’ for authorized managers with mobile access to their personalized dashboard.