Benefit Elections for Employees, Dependents and Beneficiaries

Use the Benefit Elections for Employees, Dependents, and Beneficiaries wizard to populate employees' Health, Life & Disability, Reimbursement, and Retirement Benefit Elections. All benefit elections for employees, dependents, and beneficiaries are included in this single workflow.

Note: To reduce time and effort and make it easier to validate the data, use this wizard to load employee and dependent/beneficiary elections. This wizard also makes it easy to make data corrections and reload information.

Note: Your Implementation Consultant can help you with any questions.

Important: To prevent rework and save time, make sure that you’ve completed all of the prerequisites before using this wizard.

Note: Activate shares all of your mappings across all applicable environments so you don't have to reconfigure each time you use a different environment. If the changes you make in one environment invalidate the mappings in another environment, Activate notifies you when you access a wizard with invalid mappings that need to be updated.

Before you begin

The following must have taken place:

• Published all Benefit plans.
• Verified that the plan year is correct for all Benefit plans.
• Verified that the participant definitions are defined for the qualifying participants.
• Confirmed that all Benefit Option Names are unique.
• Completed the Payroll Mapping for all Benefit Plans.
• Turned on the “Is Generated” setting for all earnings to be used in the Payroll Mapping.
• Added the Earnings and Deduction Schedules for all Earnings and Deductions being used in the Payroll Mapping.
• Defined the Deduction Limits for benefits that require a limit (Retirement or Reimbursement).
• Confirmed that the Pay Calendar is configured to include all pay dates within the Benefit Plan Year.
• For Life Insurance Plans that require imputed income calculations, configured the Pay Calendars to include all Pay Dates for two Benefit Plan Years.

Tasks

To confirm the prerequisites and indicate employee assignment of required properties

1. In Activate Central, click Load Your Data. The Load Your Data wizards are shown.
2. Click Benefit Elections for Employees, Dependents, and Beneficiaries.
3. On the What you need to confirm before you start page, review the prerequisites and make sure that you have:
   • Verified that the plan year is correct for all Benefit plans.
   • Verified the participant definitions are defined for the qualifying participants.
   • Defined the Deduction Limit for benefits that require a limit (Retirement or Reimbursement).
   • Set up the required Relationship Types under HR Admin Relationship Types.
   • Confirmed that the Is Child, Is Spouse, and Is Legal Partnership parameters have been updated.
4. Select all checkboxes to confirm that you’ve completed the tasks.
5. Click Next.
6. On the Properties page, indicate if the employees have been assigned all additional properties required for: 1. Determining employee eligibility for a benefit plan or 2. Determining an employee's rate level for a benefit plan. Select one of the following:
   • Yes
   • No
   • Our benefit plans and rates do not require additional properties
7. Click Next.

Assign fields to employees

If you clicked No on the Properties page, you must assign fields to the employees.

1. On the Field Selector page, complete the questions to assign fields to the employees.

   You must answer all of the questions on the page. Based on your answers, more questions might be shown to capture more detail.

   Note: For information on each question, see the Questions section (below).

2. Click Next.
3. On the Value Selector page, complete the questions to select the employees you want to assign and select the values to assign.

   You must answer all of the questions on the page. Based on your answers, more questions might be shown to capture more detail.

   Note: For information on each question, see the Questions section (below).

4. Click Next. The Mass Assignment Review page shows the employee properties that you assigned.
5. Review the information to confirm that everything looks correct.
6. If you need to make any changes, make them either in the grid or update the template on your computer and upload the updated file.

   Note: If you need to add a new row in the grid, click New.

7. When you complete the changes, click Download File and save a copy of the MassAssignmentDataFile.xls to your computer so you can refer to the information later.
8. Click Done & Install.

   The Load page opens with a list of the steps to complete and an estimate of how long the installation usually takes. During the installation, the current step in the process is bolded so you can monitor the progress.

   Important: If someone is signed directly in to Dayforce and potentially applying manual configuration, Activate shows a warning at Done & Install. Don’t continue with the Activate installation if users are actively applying configuration changes. Users’ changes might be lost if a failure occurs during the Activate installation. Download the User Report and follow up with the team members before you continue with the Activate wizard.

9. Click one of the following:
   • Add Email and enter your email address to be notified when the installation process ends instead of waiting for it to finish.
   • Next when the installation is complete.

   Activate Central opens with the Benefit Elections for Employees, Dependents, and Beneficiaries wizard now in the In Progress state.

Complete and upload the Employee Benefit Election template

To complete and upload the Employee Dependent Benefits Data template

To map the benefit plans to the appropriate categories:

To manage mapping errors and warnings:

The Validate page shows the details of any errors and warnings that have been generated.

Note: You must resolve all errors to continue.

1. On the Validate page, review any errors and warnings.
2. To correct errors and warnings:
   1. Click Download File to download the Benefit Elections Validation report containing the generated errors and warnings.
   2. Select the location on your computer where you saved the template document earlier.
   3. Open the document on your computer.
   4. Make the corrections.
   5. Click Save and close the template.
   6. On the Validate page, click Upload File.
   7. Go to the completed template on your computer.
   8. Click Re-Validate
3. Repeat these steps if necessary.
4. Click Download the current benefit mappings file to verify which plans and options in Dayforce need to be edited to pass validations.

   You might want to save this file to your computer for reference.

5. If you want to return to the previous page, click Back.
6. Click Next to review the data.

To review the summary information:

The Summary page shows a table containing what is to be loaded, including the Benefit Plan Type, Country, Dayforce HCM Benefit Option Count, # Elections, # Dependent Elections, and # Benefit Elections.

1. To download benefit election counts per option for verification and audits, click Download Employee Benefit Elections Summary.

   The Summary report further breaks down each option by the option name and the election count. The report includes tabs for Employee Benefit Elections, Dependent Benefit Elections, and Beneficiary Benefit Elections.

   Note: If no dependent or beneficiary elections are loaded, a message shows on those tabs to indicate that.

   Note: If you exit the Summary page without completing the installation, the next time you access this wizard, you’ll return to the Validate page.

2. Click Next. Activate prompts you to verify the User Activity report in Dayforce.

To install election information:

When the election information is complete in Activate, you must install it in Dayforce.

1. On the Install page, click Done & Install.

   A dialog box states that you’re about to load Benefit Elections and to confirm that all benefit configuration, including payroll mappings, have been completed before loading.

2. Click one of the following:
   • Yes to continue with the installation.
   • No to cancel the installation and return to the Validate page.

   Important: If someone is signed directly in to Dayforce and potentially applying manual configuration, Activate shows a warning at Done & Install. Don’t continue with the Activate installation if users are actively applying configuration changes. Users’ changes might be lost if a failure occurs during the Activate installation. Download the User Report and follow up with the team members before you continue with the Activate wizard.

   During the installation, the current step in the process shows in bold text so you can monitor the progress.

3. Click one of the following:

   • Add Email and enter your email address to be notified when the installation process ends instead of waiting for it to finish.
   • Next when the installation is complete.
4. Activate prompts you to verify the User Activity report in Dayforce.

   Activate Central opens with the name of the Wizard now shown in green text and a green checkmark to the left of the wizard’s name. The current day, date, and time of completion are included, along with your name as the user who completed the Wizard. The environment in which the installation was applied (Stage, Config, or Train) is also shown.

   Note: If you want to add more employee benefit election information, click I want to add more.

Results

Fields populated in Dayforce

File generated by the Benefit Elections for Employees, Dependents, and Beneficiaries wizard

After completing the Benefit Elections for Employees, Dependents and Beneficiaries wizard, a single import file is automatically generated and placed on the customer's FTP site.

HR Import

• FTP Subdirectory: BenefitElectionsImport
• Filename: <Namespace>-BenefitElectionsImport-EmpBenElect <Excel filename of employee election file>-<DateTime>.xml

Example illustrating how Activate translates the template data to XML:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
-<EmployeeImport>
    -<Employee>
        <XRefCode>3611</XRefCode>
        -<BenefitOption>
            <OptionXrefCode>ESP_DENTAL_US</OptionXrefCode>
            <ElectionDate>2021-01-01</ElectionDate>
            <EffectiveStart>2021-01-01</EffectiveStart>
        </BenefitOption>
        -<BenefitOption>
            <OptionXrefCode>BASIC_LIFE_75K_US</OptionXrefCode>
            <ElectionDate>2021-01-01</ElectionDate>
            <EffectiveStart>2021-01-01</EffectiveStart>
        </BenefitOption>
        -<Dependents>
            <FirstName>Andrew</FirstName>
            <LastName>Wilkins</LastName>
            <RelationshipTypeXrefCode>PARENT</RelationshipTypeXrefCode>
            <EffectiveStart>2021-01-01</EffectiveStart>
            <IsTobaccoUser>false</IsTobaccoUser>
            <IsStudent>false</IsStudent>
            <IsDisabled>false</IsDisabled>
            <IsDependent>false</IsDependent>
            <IsBeneficiary>true</IsBeneficiary>
            -<DependentOptions>
                <OptionXrefCode>BASIC_LIFE_75K_US</OptionXrefCode>
                <EffectiveStart>2021-01-01</EffectiveStart>
                <BeneficiaryPercentage>50.000</BeneficiaryPercentage>
                <BeneficiaryIsContingent>true</BeneficiaryIsContingent>
            </DependentOptions>
        </Dependents>
        -<Dependents>
            <FirstName>Ranjana</FirstName>
            <LastName>Wilkins</LastName>
            <RelationshipTypeXrefCode>PARENT</RelationshipTypeXrefCode>
            <EffectiveStart>2021-01-01</EffectiveStart>
            <IsTobaccoUser>false</IsTobaccoUser>
            <IsStudent>false</IsStudent>
            <IsDisabled>false</IsDisabled>
            <IsDependent>false</IsDependent>
            <IsBeneficiary>true</IsBeneficiary>
            -<DependentOptions>
                <OptionXrefCode>BASIC_LIFE_75K_US</OptionXrefCode>
                <EffectiveStart>2021-01-01</EffectiveStart>
                <BeneficiaryPercentage>50.000</BeneficiaryPercentage>
                <BeneficiaryIsContingent>true</BeneficiaryIsContingent>
            </DependentOptions>
        </Dependents>
        -<Dependents>
            <FirstName>Rose</FirstName>
            <LastName>Adario</LastName>
            <BirthDate>1988-03-31</BirthDate>
            <Gender>F</Gender>
            <RelationshipTypeXrefCode>SPOUSE</RelationshipTypeXrefCode>
            <EffectiveStart>2021-01-01</EffectiveStart>
            <IsTobaccoUser>false</IsTobaccoUser>
            <IsStudent>false</IsStudent>
            <IsDisabled>false</IsDisabled>
            <IsDependent>true</IsDependent>
            <IsBeneficiary>true</IsBeneficiary>
            -<DependentOptions>
                <OptionXrefCode>ESP_DENTAL_US</OptionXrefCode>
                <EffectiveStart>2021-01-01</EffectiveStart>
            </DependentOptions>
            -<DependentOptions>
                <OptionXrefCode>BASIC_LIFE_75K_US</OptionXrefCode>
                <EffectiveStart>2021-01-01</EffectiveStart>
                <BeneficiaryPercentage>100.000</BeneficiaryPercentage>
                <BeneficiaryIsContingent>false</BeneficiaryIsContingent>
            </DependentOptions>
        </Dependents>
    </Employee>
</EmployeeImport>

Activate also generates the following report to help with Employee Benefit Elections validation.

• FTP Subdirectory: BenefitElectionsImport/ActivateValidationReports
• Filename: <Namespace>- BenefitElectionsImportValidationReports-<DateTimeStart> - <DateTimeEnd>.xlsx

Next steps

Complete the next wizard, as appropriate.

Employee Benefit Election template fields

All templates have the same basic structure:

• Instructions tab: Helps you understand the purpose of the data and complete the fields in the template.
• Data tab: Contains headers for the data to be included in the template. The headers remain the same, but you can change the column order. If you add more columns, Activate ignores them.

All number ranges in the templates include the numbers at both ends of the range.

Employee Identifier (Required)

First Name (Required)

¹ Special characters accepted within the string include: alphanumeric, space, period, apostrophe, dash, number symbol #, comma, underscore, forward slash /, parentheses (), &

Last Name (Required)

¹ Special characters accepted within the string include: alphanumeric, space, period, apostrophe, dash, number symbol #, comma, underscore, forward slash /, parentheses (), &

Benefit Plan Name (Required)

¹ Special characters accepted within the string include: alphanumeric, space, period, apostrophe, dash, number symbol #, comma, underscore, forward slash /, parentheses (), &

Benefit Option/Tier Name (Required)

¹ Special characters accepted within the string include: alphanumeric, space, period, apostrophe, dash, number symbol #, comma, underscore, forward slash /, parentheses (), &

Effective Start Date (Required)

Effective End Date

Historical Coverage Start Date

Amount (Required)

Coverage Multiplier (Required)

Employee Contribution Percent (Required)

Employer Contribution Percent (Required)

Evidence of Insurability (EOI) Status (Required)

Evidence of Insurability (EOI) Requested Coverage Amount (Required)

Dependent Beneficiary Benefit Election template fields

Employee Identifier (Required)

First Name (Required)

¹ Special characters accepted within the string include: alphanumeric, space, period, apostrophe, dash, number symbol #, comma, underscore, forward slash /, parentheses (), &

Last Name (Required)

¹ Special characters accepted within the string include: alphanumeric, space, period, apostrophe, dash, number symbol #, comma, underscore, forward slash /, parentheses (), &

Dependent/Beneficiary First Name (Required)

¹ Special characters accepted within the string include: alphanumeric, space, period, apostrophe, dash, number symbol #, comma, underscore, forward slash /, parentheses (), &

Dependent/Beneficiary Last Name (Required)

¹ Special characters accepted within the string include: alphanumeric, space, period, apostrophe, dash, number symbol #, comma, underscore, forward slash /, parentheses (), &

Dependent Date of Birth (Required for dependents but optional for beneficiaries)

Dependent SSN/SIN (Recommended for Dependent records)

Dependent Gender (Required for dependents but optional for beneficiaries)

Dependent/Beneficiary Relationship Type (Required)

Is the Dependent a Tobacco User/Smoker?

Is the Dependent a Student?

Is the Dependent Disabled?

Is the Person a Dependent? (Required)

Benefit Plan Name (only required when assigning Benefit Elections to the Dependent or Beneficiary record)

¹ Special characters accepted within the string include: alphanumeric, space, period, apostrophe, dash, number symbol #, comma, underscore, forward slash /, parentheses (), &

Benefit Option/Tier Name (only required when assigning Benefit Elections to the Dependent or Beneficiary record)

¹ Special characters accepted within the string include: alphanumeric, space, period, apostrophe, dash, number symbol #, comma, underscore, forward slash /, parentheses (), &

Beneficiary Designated Percentage (Required)

Is the person a Beneficiary? (Required)

Dependent's Primary Country

Dependent Primary Address

¹ Special characters accepted within the string include: alphanumeric, space, period, apostrophe, dash, number symbol #, comma, underscore, forward slash /, parentheses (), &

Dependent Primary Address 2

¹ Special characters accepted within the string include: alphanumeric, space, period, apostrophe, dash, number symbol #, comma, underscore, forward slash /, parentheses (), &

Dependent Primary Address 3

¹ Special characters accepted within the string include: alphanumeric, space, period, apostrophe, dash, number symbol #, comma, underscore, forward slash /, parentheses (), &

Dependent Primary City

Dependent Primary State or Province

¹ Special characters accepted within the string include: alphanumeric, space, period, apostrophe, dash, number symbol #, comma, underscore, forward slash /, parentheses (), &

Dependent Primary Postal Code

¹ Special characters accepted within the string include: alphanumeric, space, period, apostrophe, dash, number symbol #, comma, underscore, forward slash /, parentheses (), &

Dependent Primary County

¹ Special characters accepted within the string include: alphanumeric, space, period, apostrophe, dash, number symbol #, comma, underscore, forward slash /, parentheses (), &

Effective Start Date of the Address (Required)

Questions

Select the fields that you want to mass assign

Click the button under the field to show the fields you can assign as a group to your employees. Select as many fields as wanted.

When do you need these new values to be effective on the employee's records?

• To the current record: Applied on the date of the employee's current active record.
• To the earliest record: Applied on the date of the employee's earliest record.
• As of original hire date: Applied on the date the employee was first hired.
• As of the most recent hire date: Applied on the date the employee was most recently hired.
• As of next pay period: Applied on the employee's nearest upcoming pay period.
• As of a specific date: Enter a specific date to apply the new values.

Important: The effective start date of a benefit election must be after the effective start date of the plan option rate.

Select the employees

• All Employees: Applies the assignment to all employees in the organization.
• Filter for groups of Employees: Narrow down the number of employees by selecting from the following filters:
  • Employee Details: You can select from the following: Employment Status, Pay Type, Pay Class, Primary Work State/Province, Primary Work Country, Primary Job, Primary Department, Primary Work Onsite, Primary Work Site, Home State/Province, Home Country, and Legal Entity.
  • Employee Group & Policies You can select from the following: Time Entry Policy, Pay Policy, Pay Holiday Group, Pay Group, Entitlement Policy, Time Off Policy, Shift Rotation, Employee Group, and Payroll Policy.

  After you make your selection, the total number of employees who will be updated based on your selection shows.

Select the values that you want to assign

• Quickly assign values to all selected employees: Select a single value to assign to all selected employees. When you select this option, the fields you selected on the Field Selector page show. Select a value or date for each field, as applicable, to apply to all selected employees.
• Specify values for each selected employee: Assign different values to different employees. Although this option takes longer, it offers more flexibility.