Employee Benefits Communication

Employee Benefits Communication

By communicating benefits more regularly, HR managers can see higher engagement and satisfaction in using employee benefits, ultimately driving better retention and employee well-being.

​​Open enrollment is also a powerful moment to show organizational values in action. Done well, it goes beyond forms and deadlines to spark engagement and strengthen the link between business goals and employee needs.

Download our free Open Enrollment Communication Templates to guide your team through every stage, from the first announcement to year-round engagement. These templates are designed to save HR time, reduce confusion, and keep employees informed.

Helping Non-Desk Employees To Understand Employees Benefits

An insurance plan is only valuable if employees are aware of and understand how to use it. Yourco bridges the gap between HR and the frontline, ensuring that benefits information is delivered clearly and on time, and that employees both understand their benefits and know how to use them when needed. 

Notably, 98% of text messages get read, while only 20% of emails do, making Yourco a powerful tool for reaching employees.

Core Benefits Communication Capabilities

• Benefit summaries: Send concise summaries of each employee benefit (health insurance, PTO, 401(k), wellness programs), ensuring frontline staff understand coverage options and enrollment steps.
• AI-Powered translations: Automatically translate benefit information into 135+ languages and dialects based on each employee's preferred language setting in your directory.
• Two-way communication: Enable employees to ask questions about benefits via SMS and receive immediate responses. Set up automated responses for common questions or connect directly with HR support.
• Message segmentation: Target benefit communications by location, department, shift, or employee group to send timely and relevant content.
• Scheduled communications: Automate benefit reminders and messages that send at optimal times based on employee shift schedules and time zones.
• Secure document access: Provide employees with secure, PIN-protected links to benefit documents and enrollment forms that work on any mobile device.

Build Long-Term Behavior Changes

For frontline workers, the risk of injury or illness is higher due to their work environment. By using Yourco, HR managers can effectively distribute safety protocols and health tips to these employees, leading to a safer and healthier workforce.

Benefits Success Story Sharing

Share a story about an employee who started a healthy diet meal plan and experienced improved well-being and reduced mental sluggishness. This story could be featured on the company’s website and communicated via Yourco—highlighting good meal plans that can help sustain labor-intensive work and the importance of staying healthy. Such success stories recognize your employees while highlighting the company’s benefits, helping boost employee connection and engagement and creating a positive workplace culture.

Streamlining Open Enrollment Communications

Open enrollment can be a stressful and overwhelming process for both HR managers and employees. Yourco simplifies this process, boosting open enrollment participation and reducing administrative workload. Here's how HR managers can use Yourco for the entire open enrollment process:

1. Pre-Announcement Communication

HR managers can use Yourco to announce the official start date of open enrollment, explain what open enrollment is, and its importance. They can also showcase any new benefits or changes for the upcoming year.

Enhanced Capabilities:

Multi-location coordination: Send location-specific enrollment dates and deadlines automatically based on employee location data

Template personalization: Use variables like first name, location, and deadline to make messages feel personal while scaling across your workforce

AI-powered translations: Ensure every employee receives the announcement in their preferred language from your employee directory

2. Open Enrollment Kickoff

Provide a summary of the available benefits and highlight their importance. Share contact details for HR or benefits specialists who can assist with any questions.

Strategic Features:

Shift-based scheduling: Automatically deliver messages when employees are most likely to check their phones based on shift data

Document access: Provide secure, PIN-protected links to benefit summaries and enrollment forms

3. Mid-Enrollment Reminder

Provide statistics on the number of employees who have already enrolled and highlight the most popular benefit choices so far.

Intelligence Features:

Completion updates: Share enrollment completion rates through Yourco

Built-in polls: Deploy SMS surveys to identify confused employees and gather feedback

4. Last Call for Enrollment

Offer extended support hours for employees who need assistance and encourage employees to take action immediately to avoid missing the deadline.

Urgency Features:

Targeted reminders: Send personalized messages to employees who haven't enrolled based on real-time tracking

Mobile-optimized resources: Provide links to decision tools and comparison documents that work on phones

5. Post-Enrollment Acknowledgment

Thank employees for completing open enrollment and confirm the benefits and options selected during the process.

Confirmation Features:

Completion tracking: Use simple reply confirmations to track participation in real-time

Survey deployment: Include brief surveys to gather feedback while the enrollment experience is fresh

Documentation: All confirmations are automatically logged and timestamped for compliance and audit purposes

6. Ongoing Communication

Regularly feature specific benefits and their advantages, promote wellness initiatives and events throughout the year, notify employees of any important changes or additions to benefits mid-year, and encourage employees to utilize available resources and engage with their benefits.

Year-Round Engagement:

Monthly benefit spotlights: Feature underutilized programs with success stories and utilization tips

Wellness program promotion: Send location-specific event invitations and preventive care reminders

Life event support: Automated messaging for qualifying events that allow mid-year changes

Cost-saving education: Share information about benefit utilization and healthcare options

Effectively Communicate Employee Benefits

Yourco helps HR managers to effectively communicate employee benefits with their non-desk employees. By using Yourco, HR managers can ensure their non-desk employees understand and are well informed about their benefits, drive engagement and long-term behavior change, and streamline the open enrollment process. Contact us to learn more or try for free today!

Frequently Asked Questions

As the employer, what am I legally required to do if an employee misses open enrollment?

Employers are not legally required to take action if an employee misses the open enrollment deadline. It's the employee’s responsibility to complete their benefits elections during the open enrollment period.

If they miss that window, they typically can’t enroll in the company plan until the next open enrollment — unless they qualify for a Special Enrollment Period (SEP). SEPs are triggered by qualifying life events, such as:

• Marriage or divorce
• Birth or adoption of a child
• Loss of other health coverage
• Significant change in household income

These events usually allow a 30-day window to enroll in or make changes to benefit plans.

Outside of that, employees may choose to purchase short-term health insurance on their own. While these plans are limited, they can provide temporary coverage until the next enrollment period.

How do I ensure employees don’t miss open enrollment deadlines?

HR can use Yourco to send reminders and final notices about upcoming open enrollment deadlines. This proactive communication helps employees take action on time and reduces the risk of missed enrollments.

Can I send different benefits information to union vs non-union workers?

Yes. Yourco's message segmentation allows you to target communications by employment status, location, department, or custom groups. Union employees can receive information about their specific plans while non-union workers get different messaging, all automated based on your HRIS data.

How do I explain deductibles and complex benefits through text messages?

Break complex concepts into simple, mobile-friendly explanations and use Yourco's built-in polls to test comprehension. For example, after explaining deductibles, send a quick survey asking who understood how deductibles work, and check who needs additional support.

Can employees ask personal health questions via SMS?

Yourco gives employees a safe way to ask personal health questions directly to HR over SMS. The platform is SOC 2 Type II and GDPR compliant, with all conversations documented and the ability to send locked files for sensitive information. As an enterprise-grade solution, Yourco ensures every exchange is secure and trustworthy.

How do I measure if SMS benefits communication is working?

Track engagement metrics like message open rates, survey response rates, and enrollment completion percentages. Compare participation rates before and after implementing SMS communication, and use post-enrollment surveys to measure employee satisfaction and understanding of their benefits.