Open enrollment communication often begins too late.
The benefits team finalizes the plans, uploads documents, sends an announcement, and expects employees to make decisions before the deadline. Employees open the message between customer calls, meetings, shifts, and personal responsibilities. Some skim the changes. Others assume their current elections will continue. Many wait until the last day.
The result is predictable: repeated questions, rushed elections, missed deadlines, incorrect dependents, payroll deduction problems, and employees who do not fully understand the benefits available to them.
That is why open enrollment communication should begin before the enrollment portal opens.
Employee benefits represent a meaningful investment for employers and employees. In NAPEO’s survey of 800 small and midsized business decision-makers, 45% reported enhancing healthcare benefits during the preceding two years. The same research found that 89% believed employees were satisfied with their benefits packages, including 95% of PEO users and 86% of non-users. These findings measure employer perceptions, not whether employees understood every benefit or enrollment decision.
Effective communication closes that understanding gap. It explains what is changing, what is staying the same, what employees need to do, how much coverage may cost, and where employees can receive help.
The objective is not to make every employee a benefits specialist. It is to give employees enough clear information to make informed elections without overwhelming them.
Why Open Enrollment Communication Matters for Employers
Open enrollment is one of the few times each year when every eligible employee may need to make a benefits decision within the same limited period.
That concentration creates operational pressure. A question left unanswered for one employee may become the same question from 20 employees. An unclear eligibility rule can lead to several incorrect elections. A payroll deduction issue may not become visible until after coverage begins.
Communication reduces that pressure by answering predictable questions before employees need to ask them.
Employees generally want to know what changed, what each option costs, whether their doctors and medications are covered, how deductibles and out-of-pocket limits compare, and whether their current elections will continue automatically. They also need to know the deadline and what happens when no election is submitted.
Employers should communicate these points in plain language while still providing the required plan documents.
The U.S. Department of Labor describes the Summary Plan Description as the primary document explaining how an employee benefit plan operates, including participants’ benefits, rights, and obligations. It must be written so an average participant can understand it. The Summary of Benefits and Coverage provides a shorter, standardized explanation of major health-plan features, including covered benefits, cost sharing, and coverage limitations.
Those documents are important, but they are not a complete employee engagement strategy.
A plan document explains the formal coverage. Communication should help employees understand why the information matters to their own decision.
For example, saying that a plan has a lower premium is not enough. Employees may also need to understand whether the deductible, provider network, prescription structure, employer contribution, or out-of-pocket limit changed.
Good communication does not tell employees which plan to select. It gives them a clearer way to compare the available options.
NAPEO’s research also found that 59% of surveyed businesses used comprehensive benefits as a strategy for attracting talent. When benefits are part of the employer’s recruiting and retention message, open enrollment is an opportunity to demonstrate the value of the full package rather than treating coverage as a collection of deductions.
How ESI handles the issue
ESI’s employee benefits services include benefits communication, open enrollment support, plan design, compliance management, and assistance with employee questions.
ESI helps employers coordinate the message, enrollment process, technology, and employee support behind the benefit offering.
Common Gaps that Create Avoidable HR Headaches
The most common open enrollment communication problem is relying on one announcement.
Employees may not see the first email, may not understand that action is required, or may plan to return to it later. A successful campaign should use several touchpoints without sending the same message repeatedly.
The first communication can introduce the timeline. A later message can explain the most important changes. Another can provide comparison tools or meeting information. Final reminders can focus on the remaining action and deadline.
Each message should have a clear purpose.
Another gap is beginning with too much detail. Employees often receive a long guide before they understand the three or four decisions that matter most.
The first message should answer the high-level questions: When is enrollment? Is action required? What changed? Where can employees compare plans? Where can they ask questions?
Detailed documents can then support those answers.
Inconsistent manager communication can also create problems. Managers may tell employees that current elections will automatically continue when active enrollment is required. Others may attempt to explain plan provisions they do not fully understand.
Managers do not need to become benefits advisers. They should know the dates, the approved source of information, and where to direct employee questions.
Accessibility and workforce reach deserve equal attention. Employees may work remotely, in the field, across shifts, or without regular access to company email. Some may need translated materials, accessible digital documents, or an alternative to an online-only meeting.
A message has not been communicated effectively merely because it was sent.
Employers should also review whether benefit eligibility, administration, and communications are being handled consistently. Federal law prohibits discrimination in employee benefits based on protected characteristics. Benefits covered by EEOC laws can include health insurance, leave, disability benefits, and retirement programs.
In 2025, Allen Theatres agreed to pay $250,000 to settle an EEOC age-discrimination lawsuit involving allegations that older employees lost employer-paid health benefits based on age and Medicare eligibility. The settlement also required the employer to offer health coverage to current eligible employees age 65 or older who were not enrolled.
The case did not concern poor email wording. It illustrates the larger point that open enrollment communication must reflect properly reviewed eligibility and plan-administration practices.
Clear messaging cannot correct an incorrect plan rule or inconsistent eligibility decision.
How ESI handles the issue
ESI helps employers align open enrollment messages with plan terms, eligibility information, enrollment systems, employee records, and payroll deductions.
ESI’s benefits team supports annual open enrollment, employee enrollment needs, claims assistance, HIPAA-related administration, and COBRA processes.
This gives employees a defined source for benefits questions rather than requiring managers to interpret coverage independently.
What to Review Before Small Problems Get Bigger
Open enrollment communication should be reviewed as a complete workflow rather than a series of emails.
The first step is confirming the information behind the campaign.
Employers should verify plan names, rates, employer contributions, employee deductions, eligibility classes, waiting periods, effective dates, available networks, and the consequences of taking no action. The enrollment portal, benefit guide, payroll configuration, and carrier records should all reflect the same information.
Next, employers should identify the most meaningful changes from the employee’s perspective.
A small change in premium may receive less attention than a provider-network change, a new deductible, a different prescription structure, or a shift from passive to active enrollment. Communication should prioritize the changes that could affect employee decisions.
The employer should also distinguish between the annual enrollment window and special enrollment rights.
Open enrollment is not always an employee’s only opportunity to change coverage. Events such as marriage, birth, adoption, or loss of other eligible coverage may create special enrollment rights when the employee acts within the applicable period.
Annual communications should tell employees where to report qualifying life events instead of implying that every benefit decision is locked until the following year.
A practical communication timeline may begin several weeks before enrollment with a preview of key dates and expected changes. The launch message should provide the enrollment link, deadline, plan-comparison resources, and support options. Mid-period communication should address common questions and reach employees who have not completed enrollment. Final reminders should state the exact deadline and any consequence of failing to act.
After enrollment closes, the employer should reconcile elections with payroll deductions, carrier files, eligibility records, and dependent information. Employees should receive confirmation of their elections and know how to report an error.
Required notices should also be mapped to the appropriate delivery schedule. The exact requirements depend on the plans, employer, workforce, and jurisdiction. For example, applicable employers may provide the annual CHIP notice with open-season materials when Department of Labor timing and disclosure requirements are satisfied.
Open enrollment is complete only when elections have been processed accurately—not merely when the portal closes.
How ESI handles the issue
ESI helps employers coordinate plan information, employee data, enrollment dates, communication materials, digital enrollment, completion tracking, and post-enrollment administration.
ESI describes its open enrollment support as including customized communications, employee question-and-answer support, secure enrollment tools, completion monitoring, and follow-up with employees who have not finished the process.
Review ESI’s open enrollment checklist.
How Stronger Employee Benefits Support Can Simplify the Process
Open enrollment touches several business systems.
Benefits teams manage plan information. HR confirms eligibility. Payroll processes employee deductions and employer contributions. Technology controls the enrollment portal. Managers help employees understand deadlines. Carriers receive enrollment files.
When those responsibilities are fragmented, the employer becomes responsible for coordinating every handoff.
An employee may submit an election correctly, but the payroll deduction may not update. A dependent may appear in the portal but fail to reach the carrier. A terminated employee may remain on an eligibility file. A late status change may affect both coverage and payroll.
Stronger benefits support can connect these processes through one coordinated calendar and defined ownership.
That includes confirming which party prepares communication, who verifies eligibility, who monitors enrollment completion, who answers plan questions, who sends data to carriers, who updates payroll, and who resolves discrepancies after coverage begins.
The need for coordinated outsourcing is not unusual. NAPEO reported in its 2026 employer survey that 61% of surveyed businesses outsourced health insurance functions, 56% outsourced payroll, and 50% outsourced retirement benefits, primarily to save time and concentrate on core growth.
A PEO can bring those functions into a more integrated service model.
The employer still makes decisions about benefit strategy, contribution levels, employee eligibility, and the plans it offers. The PEO can support administration, communication, enrollment technology, payroll coordination, and ongoing employee service.
This distinction matters because technology alone does not answer every benefits question.
A portal can display plan information and collect an election. Employees may still need human help understanding terminology, locating documents, correcting a dependent record, or resolving an enrollment issue.
The strongest open enrollment model combines convenient self-service with knowledgeable employee support.
How ESI handles the issue
ESI combines benefit-plan administration, open enrollment support, employee communication, digital enrollment, payroll coordination, compliance resources, and claims assistance.
The objective is to reduce the administrative load on the employer while giving employees a clearer path from plan information to completed enrollment.
Learn more about how ESI manages open enrollment.
Questions Employers Should Ask Before Making Changes
Before changing open enrollment communication, employers should determine what is currently creating confusion.
Are employees missing deadlines? Are questions concentrated around deductibles, networks, payroll deductions, or dependent eligibility? Are managers answering questions differently? Are employees completing enrollment but later claiming they did not understand a change?
Those patterns should shape the campaign.
Employers should then ask whether the communication clearly explains what changed. A list of every plan feature may be accurate but ineffective when the employee cannot identify the decisions that differ from the previous year.
The cost message should also be complete. Employees should be able to see their contribution per pay period, not simply the total monthly premium. Where appropriate, communication should explain the employer’s contribution and other benefits included in the package.
The enrollment method needs equal clarity. Employees should know whether the process is active or passive, whether current elections will continue, which elections must be renewed, and whether dependent information must be verified again.
Employers should also decide how employees will receive help. The communication should identify a contact, help desk, meeting, or support process rather than sending employees to a generic inbox with no expected response time.
Channel selection matters as well. Email may work for office employees but fail to reach field, production, healthcare, hospitality, or shift-based workers. The employer may need portal messages, text alerts, printed materials, meetings, or manager reminders in addition to email.
Finally, the campaign should be measured.
Useful indicators include enrollment completion, late elections, employee questions by topic, dependent corrections, payroll deduction errors, carrier discrepancies, meeting attendance, portal access, and employee feedback.
The objective is not a high email open rate. It is an accurate enrollment process in which employees understand what they need to do.
How ESI handles the issue
ESI helps employers review the plan, employee, technology, payroll, and communication factors behind open enrollment.
A benefits review can identify where unclear ownership, incomplete employee data, weak messaging, or disconnected systems are creating avoidable work.
Frequently Asked Questions About Open Enrollment Communication
What is open enrollment communication?
Open enrollment communication is the planned process of explaining benefit options, plan changes, employee costs, deadlines, enrollment instructions, and support resources before and during an annual benefits enrollment period.
Why does open enrollment communication matter for employers?
Clear communication can help employees understand their options, complete enrollment on time, and reduce avoidable questions, incorrect elections, payroll deduction problems, and post-enrollment corrections.
How can a PEO help with open enrollment communication?
A PEO can help coordinate benefit information, employee eligibility, communication materials, enrollment technology, reminders, employee support, completion tracking, payroll deductions, and carrier files.
When should employers begin communicating about open enrollment?
Employers should generally begin before the portal opens. The exact timeline depends on when renewal information becomes available, but employees should receive enough advance notice to understand major changes, prepare questions, and gather any required information.
Which communication channels should employers use?
The right mix depends on the workforce. Employers may use email, employee portals, virtual or in-person meetings, printed materials, text alerts, recorded presentations, manager reminders, and direct employee support.
Does an open enrollment guide replace required plan notices?
No. An employee-friendly guide can explain and organize important information, but it does not automatically replace required plan documents or notices such as an applicable Summary Plan Description or Summary of Benefits and Coverage.
Should employers use active or passive enrollment?
Either approach may be used depending on the plans and administrative structure. Employers should clearly tell employees whether action is required, which elections will carry forward, and what happens when no election is submitted.
How ESI Helps Businesses Build A Clearer Next Step
ESI helps employers turn open enrollment into a coordinated communication and administration process.
The process begins by reviewing benefit changes, employee eligibility, payroll connections, enrollment technology, deadlines, and the questions employees are most likely to ask. ESI can then help structure communications, guide employees through enrollment, monitor completion, and support post-enrollment reconciliation.
The goal is not to send more messages.
It is to provide the right information at the right time so employees can make informed decisions and employers can reduce missed deadlines, corrections, and repeated HR questions.
Email hr@eesipeo.com to discuss an employee benefits and open enrollment review.
