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The number of companies requiring an active election by participants during open enrollment continues to increase each year, but many employees still do not make conscious choices with respect to their health plans. By not actively enrolling in their benefit programs, these employees could be defaulted into an employer-chosen program that may not meet their health care needs, or they could lose coverage altogether. It’s critical that employers with an active enrollment policy alert employees to both the risks and the benefits through short messages that give clear action steps. Most important, plan sponsors should make the consequences of not actively enrolling in a health plan prominent in their communication tools—not buried within the fine print—to ensure that employees are aware of the changes being made and can act appropriately.

Administering a relocation program within a large organization often requires dozens of staff members who are responsible for relocations in multiple locations and the management of varying policies. Outsourcing can help reduce the administrative burden on staff resources, reduce delivery costs, and eliminate inconsistent policies through such services as employee communications, policy standardization, consolidated relocation expense processing, and home sale inventory management. It also eases the stress on the relocating employee, which positively impacts productivity and job satisfaction. The supplier is responsible for developing and maintaining all the technology solutions that support mobility activities, reducing an organization’s costs for technology systems infrastructure and maintenance.