UPDATE BENEFIT OPTION/ELECTION TABLES

Use this application to download employees' open enrollment benefit options/elections from Deltek Costpoint into the Benefits screens in ESS. This application contains two options for downloading non-FSA benefits data: Current Elections and Benefit Options. Select the Current Elections check box to download employees' elections as of the download/process date. Select the Benefit Options check box to download all benefit options offered to an employee for the plan year defined by Plan Year Start Date and Plan Year End Date in the Manage ESS Company Settings screen. All options, including the cost to the employee, are downloaded based on the employee's assigned benefit package. This application also contains two options for downloading FSA benefits data:  Medical Care and Dependent Care. Select the Medical Care check box to download employees' medical care FSA elections as of the download/process date. Select the Dependent Care check box to download employees' dependent care FSA elections as of the download/process date.

After you complete the download and employees have made their benefits and elections changes in ESS, you can use the Manage ESS Open Enrollment Benefit Elections screen to view and/or change these elections for each employee. 

Run this process before your open enrollment and after updating your Manage Benefit Plans screen with the benefit information for the upcoming year.

Location

Identification

Use the fields in this block to create a new parameter ID or to retrieve a previously saved parameter ID. A parameter ID represents a set of screen selection parameters. After you have saved a parameter ID and its related parameters, you can retrieve them using Query.

You can use the retrieved parameters to produce reports and run processes more efficiently and with greater consistency. The saved parameters are also useful and necessary when you want to run the process as part of a batch job. Many users save a unique set of parameters for each different way they run a report or process. When you select a previously saved parameter ID or parameter description, the associated saved screen selection parameters automatically display as selection defaults. The page setup and print options are also included in the saved parameter ID if there are any. You can change any of the associated selection defaults as necessary.

Parameter ID

Enter, or click to select, a parameter ID of up to 15 alphanumeric characters. Choose characters for your parameter ID that help identify the type of selections you made in the screen, such as PERIOD or QUARTERLY.

When you save your record, all the selections made in the screen are stored with the parameter ID. Later, you can retrieve the parameter using Query.

You can use the parameter to run the process more efficiently because you can select the parameter ID with its previously defined screen selections. After the default selections display in the screen, you can override the defaults.

Description

Enter, or click to select, a parameter description of up to 30 alphanumeric characters.

Selection Ranges

Taxable Entity

Option

Use the drop-down list to select the range of taxable entities to include. Options are:

Start

Enter, or click to select, the ID of the taxable entity whose employee's open enrollment benefit options/elections information is downloaded from Costpoint into ESS. Only records in which employees' current elections and/or benefit options are valid are downloaded.

Employee

Use this group box to select all or specific employees whose benefit options/elections information are downloaded from Costpoint into ESS. 

Option

Use this drop-down box to select the range to include in the download. Valid options are:

The default for this field is All.

Start

Enter, or click to select, the employee ID with which to start.

End

Enter, or click to select, the employee ID with which to end.

Options

Use this group box to indicate the benefits information that is downloaded from Costpoint into ESS.

Current Elections

If you select this check box and execute this application, the Employee Current Benefit Elections table (HB_EMPL_CURR_ELEC) is populated with employees' current benefit elections from the Manage Employee Benefit Elections screen. ESS links to this table, downloads the information into the appropriate screens in the ESS Benefits menu, and displays each employee's existing benefits elections in the Download Current Elections Report. The download also includes dependent elections from the Assign Dependents to Benefit Plans screen, and Medical/Dependent Flexible Spending Account elections (FSA) are also included from the Manage Employee Medical Care FSA Elections and Manage Employee Dependent Care FSA Elections screens, respectively. The current cost to the employee for these elections is included based on the cost calculation criteria in the Manage Benefit Plans screen.

Benefit Options

If you select this check box and execute this application, the Employee Open Enrollment table (HB_EMPL_OPENENROLL) is populated with all employees' available benefits options for the benefit plan year based on the assigned Benefit Package in the Manage Employee Benefit Elections screen. You must assign the benefit package to all employees of the selected taxable entity before open enrollment so that these options can be viewed during the open enrollment period.

If an employee is eligible for benefit coverage, but does not exist in the Manage Employee Benefit Elections screen, this application uses the Benefit Package Defaults table to determine a default Benefit Package for the employee. You can also assign a Benefit Package code to employees in the Manage Employee Benefit Elections screen for them to be included in the download process. No coverage elections are required. Benefit package information is established in the Manage Benefit Packages screen.

ESS links to this table, downloads the information into the appropriate screens under the ESS Benefits menu, and displays the employee's benefit options for the open enrollment period in the Download Benefits Options Report. The download process includes all benefit options available to employees as of the current plan year, as defined by the Plan Year Start Date and Plan Year End Date in the Manage ESS Company Settings screen. The FSA options are also included based on the maximum amount in the Manage Dependent Care FSA Plan Year and Manage Medical Care FSA Plan Year screens for the New FSA Year in the Manage ESS Company Settings screen.

FSA Elections/Options

Select the Medical Care and/or Dependent Care check boxes to include medical care and/or dependent care FSA election information in the report.

Medical Care

Select this check box to include medical care FSA elections and/or options in the download. This check box is enabled if you select either the Current Elections or Benefit Options check boxes on this screen.

Dependent Care

Select this check box to include dependent care FSA elections and/or options in the download. This check box is enabled if you select either the Current Elections or Benefit Options check boxes on this screen.

Print

Click to print the employee benefit options/elections information as it exists in Costpoint. After the report prints successfully, you can click to download this information.

Populate Open Enrollment Benefit Options/Elections

This option is enabled after you have successfully printed the employee benefit options/elections report. Click and select Populate Open Enrollment Benefit Options/Elections to download and process the employee benefit options/elections information from Costpoint into the ESS Benefits applications.

Print/Process Current Elections/Benefit Options

Click and select Print/Process Current Elections/Benefit Options to download, process, and print the employee benefit options/elections information.