Using Common Global Benefits Components

Objectives

After completing this lesson, you will be able to:
  • Configure open enrollment.
  • Create a pay component.
  • Create eligibility and contribution rules.
  • Manage workflows.
  • Manage benefit exceptions.
  • Manage benefit dependencies.
  • Add a hyperlink to the benefits overview page.

Open Enrollments

Open Enrollment is a time period in which employees enroll in benefits for a particular cycle period (usually a year) or change their existing benefits. As an employer, you can modify plans, start new benefits, end existing benefits, and update rates.

Using the Open Enrollment feature, an employee selects multiple benefits made available to them on the open enrollments screen. Selected benefits are added to a cart from where the employee can enroll in bulk to all the chosen benefits.

A screenshot of the Benefit Open Enrollment Configuration section displays the following fields: Open Enrollment ID, Effective From (date), Open Enrollment Schedule, Legal Entity, Link to Instruction, Links to Terms and Conditions, and Cart Workflow.

Configure Open Enrollment

Steps

  1. Use the action search to navigate to the Benefits Admin Overview.

  2. Select Create NewBenefit Open Enrollment Configuration.

  3. Enter data in the following fields:

    • Open Enrollment ID: Specify an ID for the Open Enrollment. You can enter alpha-numeric values in this field.

    • Effective From: Select the date from when the open enrollment period is valid.

    • Open Enrollment Schedule: Select the open enrollment schedule. Employee can see the Period Name of the schedule on the open enrollments screen. It indicates the period that the employee is enrolling for.

    • Legal Entity: Select the relevant legal entity for which you are configuring the open enrollments. You can maintain only one Benefit Open Enrollment Configuration per legal entity.

    • Link to Instruction: You can provide a link to an instruction page outside the Employee Central systems. This link can contain instructions on open enrollments process and any other offerings from your organization.

    • Link to Terms and Conditions: You can provide a link to terms and conditions of enrollment. This link is an external link that will redirect the employee outside Employee Central. If this link is not provided, the employee enrolls to benefits without any consent.

    • Cart Workflow: Select a workflow. When an employee is enrolling for the first time, this workflow is triggered for all benefits in the cart. However, when an employee edits a benefits selection, the workflow assigned to that benefit is triggered.

    • Benefits: Add the benefits that are available for open enrollments. Only benefits of type Insurance, Pensions, and Deductible Allowances are supported by this feature.

      • For the benefits to appear on the open enrollments screen, Enrollment Opens, and Enrollment Ends of the benefits must match the period in the Open Enrollment Schedule.

      • To display the estimated total in the cart, Currency, Frequency, and Legal Entity of all the benefits must match.

  4. Choose Save.

Pay Components

A Pay Component in SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central is the building block of an employee's compensation package. It represents a specific type of earnings, deductions, or contributions that collectively make up an individual’s pay.

A Pay Component contains a lot of information, such as the pay frequency, pay component type, pay component group, and currency. You can also define how each component can behave; for example, if it is taxable or not, if it includes workers' compensation, and other rules and conditions.

Pay Components define the pay structure of each employee and are crucial for payroll calculations. In other words, Pay Components are the specific line items that comprise the total compensation being given to an employee.

Pay Components can be Amount Based or Percentage Based.

The screenshot shows the Manage Organization, Pay and Job Structures section. The main screen shows the Pay Component details for Telephone Reimbursement.

When you create an Amount-based pay component, define the fixed amount in the Pay Component Value field.

When you create a Percentage-based pay component, select the relevant option in the Base Pay Component Group field and enter the percentage value in the Pay Component Value field. The Base Pay Component field lists all the available pay components.

  • When you create an Amount-based pay component, define the fixed amount in the Pay Component Value field.

  • When you create a Percentage-based pay component, select the relevant option in Base Pay Component Group field and enter the percentage value in Pay Component Value field. The Base Pay Component field lists all the available pay components.

The system calculates the contribution based on the value in Pay Component Value field and the pay component that you have selected in Base Pay Component field. For example: You select Basic Salary in the Base Pay Component Group field and enter 10 in Pay Component Value field. In this case, the contribution is 10% of Basic Salary.

Create a Pay Component

Steps

  1. Use the Action Search and search for Manage Organization, Pay, and Job Structures.

  2. Under Create New, select Pay Component.

  3. Enter all the required field entries.

  4. Select Save.

    Note

    Whenever you maintain a new pay component, you must also maintain the permissions for it in Manage Permissions Roles.

Eligibility and Contribution Rules

The eligibility rule decides if a particular employee is eligible for a benefit and also determines his or her entitlement amount. Using the rule engine, you can set up a rule that is specific to your company, based on criteria such as pay grade and location. To determine the employees’ eligibility, the rule engine reads the employee- related information and executes the rule.

A screenshot of the Configure Business Rules screen shows a benefit entitlement scenario. It includes parameters like benefit type and amount, with conditions set for entitlement modification.

While creating the rule, you maintain certain conditions in it. Based on these conditions the rule determines the entitlement amount:

  • If the condition maintained in the rule matches with the employee data, the rule sets the entitlement amount.

  • If the condition does not match with the employee data, the entitlement amount is derived based on the Entitlement Amount field maintained in Benefit MDF object.

Admins can now check where a rule has been assigned if it was created using Benefits Rule scenario.

Workflows

You can define different workflows based on the context. For example, you can create a workflow that requires a manager to approve an employee beenfit claim.

The My Workflow Requests section shows requests from three different employees with two columns, Key Details, showing details of vacation requests and approval status, and Operations, showing details of who made the request and when. The Actions column shows the option to approve the request.

Employee Central allows your organization to create approval workflows and determine which transactions initiate workflows.

Your organization can choose different workflows for different transactions. The workflow is put in place to ensure that everyone involved in the transaction knows that an enrollment or claim is taking place.

The Workflow Details page shows a vacation request by one employee, Marcus Hoff. Options to approve or decline are available, as well as a comment box for feedback.

Individuals involved in the workflow process are notified via e-mail that an approval is pending. When logged in to the SAP SuccessFactors system, a notification displays on the home page and on the users’ To Do List.

To view the request, the approver must choose the notification to see the approval request page. The Approval Request page includes much of the information that the approver needs to make an informed decision, including:

  • Request Information–The event reason (Data Change) and who the request effects.

  • View Workflow Participants–View others in the approval workflow.

  • Job Relationships–The employee’s current information and proposed new information.

  • Response–The approver can approve, comment, and send back the request.

  • Recent Activity–Actions taken on the request so far, including the initiator and other approvals.

There can be times when the workflow must be circumvented. SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central uses dynamic groups to grant permission to circumvent the normal approval process.

Create a Workflow

Steps

  1. Use the Action Search to open Manage Organization, Pay, and Job Structures.

  2. Select Create NewWorkflow Configuration.

  3. Enter the following information:

    • Workflow ID: The unique identifier for the workflow.
    • Name: The full name of the workflow.
  4. In Step 1, select the Approver Type.

  5. Select Save.

Benefit Exceptions

Benefit Exceptions allow employees to enroll in a benefit outside of the normal enrollment window. Some examples of the need for benefit exceptions include:

  • Employees hired after the annual enrollment window has closed.

  • Employees who experience an allowed life event, such as marriage, birth of a child, or the change in a partner's benefits.

  • A change in the employee's grade or job level which makes him or her eligible for a benefit.

To meet any of these contingencies, the administrator can provide an exception to employees which opens the system for them to enroll in benefits or submit a claim for a fixed period.

You can grant an exception to an employee in the following scenarios:

  • Enrollment– Some benefits require an employee to enroll into a benefit to avail it. If the enrollment window is closed, as an exception, the system opens an enrollment window for the employee to enroll.

  • Adjustment Amount– An employee can have a change in eligible amount for a particular claim or enrollment. In this case, the adjustment amount is added to or deducted from the entitlement amount.

Create a New Benefit Exception

To create a new benefit exception, perform the following steps:

Steps

  1. Use the Action Search to open the Benefits Admin Overview tool.

  2. Select Create NewBenefits Exception.

  3. Enter the data in the following fields:

    • Worker ID: Enter the employee's ID for whom you want to grant the exception.

    • Exception For: Select the category for which you want to grant the exception. You can either select Enrollment or Claim.

    • New Exception Window Required: Select either Yes or No.

      If you selectYes, the system displays two more fields, Exception Start Date and Exception End Date that you must maintain. In this case, the exception given to benefit is valid only during this period.

      If you selectNo, the system calculates the exception based on the existing benefit schedule.

      Note

      Currently the system displays this field only if you have selected Enrollment in Exception Category field.

    • Exception Start Date: Specify the date from which the exception is valid for enrolling in a particular benefit program or benefit.

      Note

      Currently the system displays this field only if you have selected Yes in New Exception Window Required field.

    • Exception End Date: Specify the date until which the exception is valid for enrolling in a particular benefit program or benefit.

      Note

      Currently the system displays this field only if you have selected Yes in New Exception Window Required field.

    • In Benefit Program Exception Details, maintain the relevant exception details for the benefit program. This section is displayed only if you have selected Enrollment in the Exception Category field.

      • Benefit Program: Specify the Benefit program for which you want to open an enrollment window through exceptions for the employee to enroll.

      • Relevant for Program Period: Select the relevant schedule. This field displays all the existing schedule(s) for the corresponding benefit.

        In case you are giving exception for an enrollment period, enter the period for which enrollment window has lapsed.

        In case you are giving an exception only for the amount, enter the existing benefit period.

      • Selected Period: Displays the schedule that you have selected in Relevant for Benefit Period field.

      • Adjustment Amount: Specify the amount that you want to adjust against the program entitlement amount. You maintain this field in case an employee is eligible for a special entitlement amount or proration. Based on the adjustment that you want, you must either enter a positive value or a negative value.

        In case you enter a positive value, the system adds this value to the entitlement amount for the employee.

        In case you enter a negative value, the system deducts this value from the entitlement amount for the employee.

    • In Benefit Exception Details: Maintain the relevant exception details for the benefit such as:

      • Benefit: Specify the Benefit for which you want to open an enrollment window through exceptions for the employee to enroll.

      • Relevant for Benefit Period: Select the relevant schedule. This field displays all the existing schedule(s) for the corresponding benefit.

        In case you are giving exception for an enrollment period, enter the period for which enrollment window has lapsed.

        In case you are giving an exception only for the amount, enter the existing benefit period.

      • Selected Period: Displays the schedule that you have selected in Relevant for Benefit Period field.

      • Adjustment Amount: Specify the amount that you want to adjust against the entitlement amount for the benefit.

        This field can be used if an employee is eligible for a special entitlement amount or proration. Based on the adjustment that you want, you must either enter a positive value or a negative value. In case you enter a positive value, the system adds this value to the employee's entitlement amount. In case you enter a negative value, the system deducts this value from the employee's entitlement amount.

        For example, consider an employee, Carla Grant, joins the organization in the month of July, and wants to enroll in the Meal Allowance benefit. All the employees of the organization are entitled to INR 12,000 worth meal coupons annually. Since Carla Grant joined the organization midyear, she is not eligible for the full entitlement amount; however, her eligible entitlement amount can be prorated at INR 6,000 instead of INR 12,000. To adjust the entitlement amount of Carla Grant, enter -6,000 value in this field.

      A screenshot of the Benefits Exception form displays fields for dates, event configuration, and exception details.

Edit of Enrollment Using Benefit Exception

In addition to allowing employees to enroll in a benefit outside the enrollment window, the administrator can allow employees to modify their benefits as well. Administrators can set up benefit exceptions for life events, control the level of exception permissions, and control the effective date of the exception.

Some examples of modifications that an employee can make outside the enrollment window include:

  • Modifying the number of dependents, such as the birth or adoption of a child.
  • Opting out of medical coverage due to eligibility for a better plan outside the organization.

If an employee opts out of a benefit in which they had previously enrolled, they can re-enroll into the same benefit as per their eligibility and the enrollment schedule. When the enrollment window is open, they can enroll without an exception. When the enrollment window is closed, administrator must create an exception for the employee to re-enroll.

When to Use an Exception

There are two ways to allow employees to edit their current enrollments: during the configuration of a benefit, or via benefit exception.

Note

An employee must be enrolled in a benefit before he or she can edit the enrollment.

Benefit Configuration Setup

  • To configure a benefit to allow exceptions, populate the fields in the Settings for Employee Edit and Opt-out of Enrollments section.

    In the Define Enrollment Details step, there is a section entitled Settings for Employee Edit and Opt-out of Enrollments. In this section, there are dropdowns to select the setting under Enrollment Edit Allowed, Allowed Edit of Enrollment, Allow Automatic Updates of Enrollment, Allow Opt Out of Enrollment, and Opt-Out Workflow.

    When Enrollment Edit Allowed is set to Yes, and if Allow Edit of Enrollment is set to:

    • Only During Open Enrollment: You can create exception to edit enrollment for a period outside the open enrollment window.

    • Only while Enrollment is Active: You can create exception to edit enrollment for a period outside the active enrollment period and open enrollment window.

    • Throughout Open and Active Enrollment: You do not have to create an exception as the enrollment is editable during all periods.

  • When Enrollment Edit Allowed is set to Yes, and if Allowed Opt Out of Enrollment is set to Yes, Read-only Effective Date, you can create an exception to opt-out of enrollment during the active enrollment period due to a life event, which allows edit and opt out, and the effective date appears as read-only.

  • WhenAllow Opt Out of Enrollment is set to Yes, Editable Effective Date, you can create an exception to opt-out of enrollment during the active enrollment period due to a life event. It allows edit and opt out, and the effective date can be edited. In the Opt-out Workflow, the administrator can select an approval workflow for the opt-out event.

  • When Enrollment Edit Allowed is set to No, you can create an exception during any period.

Create a Benefit Exception to Allow Edit of Enrollment

The following steps describe the procedure to create a benefit exception used to allow edit of enrollment:

Steps

  1. Use the Action Search to open the Manage Data tool.

  2. Select Create NewBenefits Exception.

  3. Enter the data in the following fields:

    A screenshot of the Benefits Exception form shows details for worker Marcus Hoff. It includes fields for type of exception (Edit of Enrollment), start/end dates, and benefit event date, among others. A Benefit Exception Details section includes fields for details of benefit exception (Dental Insurance Plan), period, and adjustment amount.
    • Worker ID: Enter the employee ID for whom you want to grant the exception.

    • Exception For: Select Edit of Enrollment.

    • New Exception Window Required: Select Yes or No.

      If you select Yes, the system displays two more required fields, Exception Start Date and Exception End Date. In this case, the exception is valid only during this period.

      If you select No, the system calculates the exception based on the existing benefit schedule.

    • Exception Start Date: Specify the date from which the exception is valid for enrolling in a particular benefit program or benefit.

    • Exception End Date: Specify the date until which the exception is valid for enrolling in a particular benefit program or benefit.

    • Benefit Event Date: Select the event occurrence date for which this exception is created.

    • Benefit Life Event Configuration: To control the effective from and the deduction start dates, create a benefit life event configuration.

  4. Under Benefit Exception Details, you can view the list of benefits, selected the period for each benefit, based on your selections from the benefit life event configuration.

  5. To verify the rule attached to each benefit, select Details.

  6. Select Save.

Result

Now, an eligible employee can edit his or her enrollments during the period determined by administrator or the rule attached in the Enrollment Duration Rule. This change in enrollment is determined by the Enrollment Effective from Rule and deduction begins based on the Deduction Start Date Rule.

Benefit Work/Life Events

The Benefit Work/Life Event Configuration object allows the administrator to configure how each benefit work/life event is executed. For example, you can automate the enrollment in a new benefit when an employee changes to a new position in the company.

To make the benefit effective immediately, follow step 2 - Creating the Benefit Exception.

As an administrator, you can control the effective date and the deduction start date of the edited enrollment.

During a work or life event, an administrator can configure the system to accept a past date as the effective date of a benefit enrollment. The enrollment effective from date can be supported for a past/future date only via benefit exceptions, with or without using life event configurations.

Prerequisites

  • You have created an Enrollment Duration Rule using the rule scenario Configure Benefits Enrollment Window Rule via Exception.

    The Work/Life Event Exception page shows a conditional rule setup. The This rule is always true option is checked, and there are instructions to uncheck the box to add an expression. Under this instruction, there is another instruction: Then set the Exception Window Calculation Rule Result' number of days to 30.
  • You have created an Enrollment Effective From rule using the rule scenario Configure Benefits Enrollment Effective From Rule via Exception.

    You can create a rule scenario to determine when the enrolled benefits are effective from. Some of the rules are listed after this:

    • Next Pay Period: This rule determines a date for benefit enrollment which is effective from the next pay period considering the base date as the event date.

    • Next Month: This rule determines a date for benefit enrollment which is effective from next month considering the base date as the event date.

    • Offset plus Next Pay Period: This rule determines a date for enrollment which is effective from next pay period after offsetting an 'n' number of days as per the user input.

    • Offset plus Next Month: This rule determines a date from enrollment which is effective from next month after offsetting an 'n' number of days as per the user input.

    The Work/Life Event Exception page shows a conditional rule setup. The This rule is always true option is checked, and there are instructions to uncheck the box to add an expression. Under Then, it sets the Effective Date Calculation Rule Result: Enrollment Effective Date to equal the start date of the next pay period. It includes details for Base Date and User ID.

The preceding image shows a rule that determines the benefit enrollment is effective starting in the next pay period.

Create Benefit Work/Life Event Configuration

Steps

  1. Use the Action Search and search for Benefits Admin Overview.

  2. Select Create NewBenefit Work/Life Event Configuration.

  3. Enter the data in the following fields:

    The screenshot shows fields for configuring benefit effective dates, including selections for benefit type, rule, exception, and deduction start date for a sample benefit, which is a dental insurance plan.
    • Effective Start Date: Enter the date from which the work/life event is valid.

    • Event Configuration ID: Enter an ID.

    • Event Configuration Name: Enter a name for the configuration.

    • Legal Entity: Select the relevant legal entity that you want to trigger the work/life event for.

    • Benefit Work/Life Event: Select the benefit work/life event. While creating this, you can choose NEW HIRE for new hire event and OTHERS(Manual) for other event types. You can create different work or life events such as child birth, marriage, divorce, dependent separation by creating multiple benefit work/life events for the system event Others(Manual).

    • Relevant for Benefit Period: Select either Upcoming Period or Ongoing Period.

      • Select Upcoming Period when the employee will be eligible for benefits as of next benefit period.

      • Select Ongoing Period when the employee is eligible for benefits from the current benefit period as of work/life event date.

    • Enrollment Duration Rule: Select a rule to determine the enrollment duration.

    • Benefit: Select the benefits that are allowed for edit.

    • Effective from Rule: Select the relevant enrollment effective form rule specific to each added benefit.

    • Deduction Start Date Rule: Select the relevant deduction start date rule to each added benefit.

  4. Choose Save.

Result

You have successfully created a Benefit Life Event Configuration with an effective from rule. During Benefit Exception creation, you can use this object to control the effective from and deduction start date of the benefit.

Instructions for Employee

You can specify special instructions for employees while they're reporting a life event. A new field, Instructions for Employee, is added to the Define Life Events for Benefits object. This field allows you to provide any additional information that an employee requires while reporting a life event.

A screenshot of a form titled Define Life Event for Benefits: INSTRUCTIONTEST has a textbox that is labeled Instructions for Employee. There are other editable fields on the form.

The instructional text that you define displays inside the Report a Life Event section within the Benefits tab in the employee profile page.

Reporting a Life Event for a Future Date

Users are allowed to submit future-dated life events using the Report a Life Event page.

This feature supports customer’s requirements to report future-dated life events.

You can prevent reporting future-dated life events with a business rule.

You assign the new rule to the BenefitEmployeeLifeEventDeclarationForm object definitions in the Save Rules section.

The screenshot shows the Report a Life Event for Future page with a rule setup preventing future-dated requests .

Enable Email Notification for Benefits Exception

When a benefit exception is created either manually or by Intelligent Services Center (ISC) events, an e-mail notification is sent to the employee with details, such as exception start date, exception end date, and so on.

With this feature, employees are notified by an e-mail whenever a benefit exception is created for any benefit for which they are eligible. It enables employees to act, if required, well in time.

Prerequisites

Ensure that you have the UserMiscellaneous PermissionsBenefits Email Configuration permission.

For manual exceptions, enable e-mail notification while creating benefits exception. For automatic exceptions, set Enable Email Notification to Yes in the Benefit Work/Life Event Configuration.

Steps

  1. Create an e-mail template using Document Generation Template for category Benefits E-mail Notification.

  2. Create the Benefits Email Configuration object for the relevant Legal Entity. Assign the e-mail template created in the preceding step.

Benefit Dependencies

Your organization can have situations in which the selection of a benefits plan creates a change to other benefit options. This can be managed in Global Benefits using the Benefit Dependencies option. Using this option, the administrator can add dependencies between benefit types or within insurance types and plans. Both benefits (leading and dependent) are visible, but if the employee wishes to enroll in the dependent benefit, an error message advises the employee to first enroll in the leading benefit. This is important as in many jurisdictions, this is a legal requirement for some types of companies, such as insurance.

Benefit Dependencies: Business Examples

The following are some examples of scenarios in which benefits are contingent on other benefits for enrollment:

Scenario

Leading Benefit

Leading Benefit Plan

Condition

Dependent Benefit

1

Medical Insurance

MediSure High Deductible 90/10

Enrolled

HSA

2

Medical Insurance

MediSure High Deductible 80/20

Not Enrolled

FSA

3

Travel Insurance

TravelCare

Enrolled

Fuel Allowance

In scenario 1, an employee must be enrolled into the leading benefit plan MediSure High Deductible 90/10 before becoming eligible for the dependent benefit plan HSA.

In scenario 2, an employee must not be enrolled into the leading benefit plan MediSure High Deductible 80/20 to be eligible for dependent benefit plan FSA.

In scenario 3, an employee must be enrolled into the leading benefit Travel Insurance, to be eligible for dependent benefit Fuel Allowance.

Create Benefit Dependencies

The following procedure describes how-to create benefit dependencies:

Steps

  1. Use the Action Search and navigate to the Manage Benefit Dependencies tool.

  2. Choose the + symbol in Dependency Sets on the left-side of the screen.

  3. In Benefit Dependency Name, enter a name for this dependency set.

  4. In the Effective Start Date, choose a date from when this dependency must be applied.

  5. Choose Add. Now, you can see this is added under Dependency Sets.

  6. Choose Add New Dependency. A new row is added to the dependency set.

  7. Choose a Leading Benefit, Leading Benefit Plan, Enrollment Option, Dependent Benefit, and Dependent Benefit Plan.

    You can choose any benefit, that has Enrollment Required set to Yes and Enrollment Type as Manual, to be a Leading Benefit and Dependent Benefit.

    However, Leading Benefit Plan and Dependent Benefit Plan are applicable only when the chosen Leading Benefit and Dependent Benefit are of type Insurance.

  8. Choose Add New Dependency to add another dependency rule, if required.

  9. Choose Save to save your entries.

Benefits Overview Hyperlinks

The Benefits Overview Hyperlink object can be used to maintain hyperlinks to benefit information and provider directories. In the People Profile page, generic hyperlinks can be added for those benefits not configured in the system. It provides an access point to third party providers. These hyperlinks are displayed under Benefits OverviewMy Active Enrollments.

Create Benefits Overview Hyperlink

Steps

  1. Use the Action Search and navigate to Benefits Admin Overview.

  2. Select Create New Benefits Overview Hyperlink.

  3. Enter the following details:

    1. Hyperlink Configuration ID: Choose Benefit Hyperlink Configuration.

    2. Hyperlink Configuration Name: Enter a name for the configuration.

    3. URL: Enter a valid URL. For instance, https://www.example.com.

    4. Label: Enter a name to be displayed under My Active Enrollments page.

    5. Hyperlink Eligibility Rule: Create or choose an eligibility rule for this hyperlink. The hyperlinks are displayed as per this eligibility rule.

      Note

      Note: Only the top three eligible hyperlinks are displayed.

    A screenshot shows the Benefits Overview Hyperlink page. The text includes more details.
  4. Save the object.

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