Do your employees appreciate how much you are spending on their benefits? A better question might be: do your employees KNOW how much you are spending for their benefits? With benefits making up an estimated 30-40% of payroll costs, employees need to realize the value of their benefits.
Employee benefits are a great attraction and retention tool that would work even better if the information were communicated to the employees. You might be saying that you already do this. But I bet you are thinking about the benefits report that the employee gets at the end of the year. How effective do you think this belated feedback is in terms of improving employee moral and productivity - especially considering employees view their benefits as an entitlement rather than extra effort on the company´s part?
If you are convinced about the need to communicate the details of employee benefits as they are used, let me introduce Fringe Facts Online.
What is it?
Fringe Facts Online by Benefit Software Inc. is an internet-based application that allows employees access to their benefits summary on a 24/7 basis. This application allows employees to view, select, enrol and change their benefits by logging on to the Internet.
The basic Fringe Facts Online Service includes:
How does it work?
Each employee can have access to their company´s Benefits screen by entering in their password and have access to their personal page containing all information concerning benefits. Once in, the employee can enrol in their benefits, change their personal data, find information about their benefits, download HR forms, and participate in online surveys. This can be accomplished from work; at home or anywhere they have access to the Internet -- 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Once the employee has logged on, she is first presented with the Welcome page that has a message from the company´s president. Through Fringe Facts Online, the company can also send out material such as employee policy manual, handbooks, training materials and anything else that needs to be communicated.
In particular, a Benefits statement may include the following information:
The menu on the left-hand side of the screen provides additional options for the employee. These include the My Benefit Statement screen that gives a Summary of Benefits of Costs. The 401(k) Calculator and the 401(k) Summary are said to fulfill the function of increasing participation in contributory plans like 401(k) by showing the tax benefits of the plan.
The Cafeteria Calculator enables employees to see the difference in their after-tax take home pay with and without the Cafeteria plan. The Cafeteria Sign-up option allows employees to choose the benefits that are most relevant to them. The menu also allows employees´ access to a Social Security Statement and a Benefit Survey.
The Medical Providers option takes employees to the provider´s website so they can get any particular information themselves. Through the Company News section, the company is able to communicate essential information directly with the employee in a timely manner. Another way of looking at this option may be to think of the company newsletter published online. A company can choose to include essential contact information in the HR Directory so that the employee can access it easily.
Two new features that are not shown in the Fringe Facts Online demo are the FAQ and the Resource section. Through these options, employees get access to much needed information when trying to make sense of their benefits.
In addition, BSI has also introduced two special features to its Fringe Facts Online service - 1) Online Enrolment and 2) Life Events section. During an open enrolment period, the Online enrolment option allows employees to choose their benefits directly. It should be noted that the Fringe Facts Online Enrolment Service is optional. The Life events section gives employees access to a list of impartial help sites.
A company can choose to update their information as often as it likes. However, it is recommended that the data be refreshed either monthly or quarterly.
Target Market:
Fringe Facts Online is targeted towards companies that have 250 or more employees. This service will appeal to many different kinds of companies. Companies currently making use of this service come from diverse backgrounds such as financial institutes, law firms, high tech firms, as well as ´white and blue collar´ companies.
System Requirements:
Installation:
Scalability:
There is really no limit to the number of people who can use this service. During the interview, the BSI representative mentioned that one of their largest clients has 7,500 employees.
Access:
This service is available through the company´s Intranet or the Internet. For employees who don´t have Internet access, the company may decide to set up a benefit "kiosk" or provide hard copies of the benefits reports.
Price
Since there is not set price that applies for all companies, you may want to contact BSI to get a free quotation based on your individual needs. Just as an example, I have included a pricing scenario that will be valid in most cases for a company with 500 employees that chooses to update the benefits information 12 times a year. (There may be other issues, like the degree of customization, that influence the final price).
First Year Fees... Setup and 1st 3 months Service: $8,500 Monthly Service Fee (next 9 months): $650 Update Processing Fee: $675 per update (11 updates in 1st year)
Total First Year Setup and Service Fees: $21,775 Average Monthly Fee Per Employee: $3.64
2nd and Subsequent Years Fees... Monthly Service Fee: $650 Update Processing Fee: $675 per update (12 updates a year)
Total Annual Service Fees in 2nd and Subsequent Years: $15,900 Average Monthly Fee Per Employee: $2.66
Optional Services (Not included above)... - Online Enrollment Setup (5 benefits): $2,250 - Online SPD, Policy Manual, etc. Setup (100 pages): $600 - Online Newsletter Setup (1 pages): $45 - Online Employee Phone/E-Mail Directory Setup (5 employees): $46
Total Optional Services Setup Fees: $2,941 or $5.88 per employee. Total Optional Services Monthly Maintenance Fee: $294 or $0.59 per employee.
For those who choose to purchase the Fringe Facts Online services, a formal price quotation is provided along with a service agreement that takes into account an evaluation of company benefit structure and any special circumstances.
Overall Evaluation
Fringe Facts Online certainly has a lot to offer. The presentation of the information is appealing and easy to understand. In fact, some of the information is provided as pie charts so that employees can make sense of the data at a quick glance. For example, the employee can see a color coded chart that shows the percentages of his or her total pay package allocated to pay for work, time-off pay, and fringe benefits. This service also seems like a great communication tool as the company can use the Newsletter option to share important information.
My concern with this product is that there is no opportunity for direct integration with other company systems like payroll or the HRIS. It would definitely make sense if changes to an employee´s salary or position were communicated to Fringe Facts Online without duplication of effort since such information may be linked to benefit eligibility.(It may indicate my laziness, but for me having to import information is a duplication of effort. I am especially concerned since we are dealing with highly sensitive information like an employee''s life insurance policy.)
NOTE: BSI has explained that Fringe Facts Online allows for "integration with ANY payroll or HRIS system as well as with carriers and TPAs is an option, however, the built-in reporting capability has an easy-to-use export feature that provides all the data in an Excel or other file format that can be imported into the payroll, HRIS, carrier, or TPAs systems".
Additionally, although clearly displayed, there is a lot of information thrown at the employee. It may be overwhelming for the employee to have the responsibility of signing up for important benefits like life insurance on her own.
Overall, I can certainly see the value of the service provided by Fringe Facts Online.
HR.COMmentary
A product like Fringe Facts Online can prove to be an essential service for your company. Considering the fact that most companies are now having to provide employee benefits, it makes sense to communicate how much the benefits actually cost. If employees can''t see the price tag associated with the benefits, they may fail to recognize the value. The purpose of providing benefits is to both attract and retain employees. This task will certainly be made easier if employees can see how much the company is spending on them.
With the inclusion of the Life Events section and the Resources directory, Fringe Facts Online seems have remnants of an EAP. It seems that we are getting back to the basic philosophy - take care of your employees and you can reap the benefits of increased retention and improved morale.
About the Company
Established in 1978, Benefit Software Inc. continues to provide a variety of employee benefit software systems. In addition to Fringe Facts Online, BSI also offers Fringe Facts, CompWatch and Forms4us. BSI is supported by staff of varying backgrounds like human resource management, employee benefits, insurance, programming, software support, and training.
Benefit Software, Inc. 212 Cottage Grove Ave. Santa Barbara, CA 93101 www.bsiweb.com
Toll Free: 1-800-533-1388
Fax: 1-805-568-0239
Local Phone: (805) 568-0240