OAB/OSB Oracle Advanced/Standard Benefits Enrolling Issue manually.

Question

Hello Everyone - The issue I am about to list below maybe peculiar in ERP nature and I think it will get lot of Benefits Guru thinking as it has got me(tho I am no Benefits Guru).
First, lets get basic nuts and bolts in place about the environment,
1. We are using Oracle 11i for just HR with functionality of payroll and benefits as suitable to client.
2. Payroll is outsourced, maintaining benefits is outsourced.
3. Deciding if it is OSB or OAB is bit tricky here, as parts of both are used.
4. Only one Life Event - 'UnRestricted' is used.
5. Benefit Programs, Plans, Options are built just as it is in outsourced Benefits Portal.
6. Activity Rate is built and attached to Payroll Elements. This maintains the correct information for employee benefits and this information is pushed to outsourced Payroll for deductions.
7. Open Enrollements were done in NOV.11 FOR THE year-2012.
8. No Benefits or Payroll concurrent processes are executed in Oracle.
9. New enrollments and changes to current enrollments are done via Benefits Service Center-->Non-Flex Program form.
Now that we have established the ground, lets detail out the issue,
10.A new plan is created for LTD as of Jan.01,2012. This plan falls in a Plan Type. We just have one single Benefit Program. Variable Rate Profile and Standard Rates for LTD plan started as of Jan.01,2012.
11. Eligibility Profile is created for this plan based on only Age band, e.g., 1-20..21-29...etc.
12. Variable Rate Profile is built as per the age band and attached with above Eligibility Profile. Details of important information for Variable Rate profile is as the following,
- Employee Payroll Contribution
- Aftertax
-Monthly
- Multiply By
- Rates
Calculation Method - Multiple of Compensation
Multiplier - .07
Operator - PER hUNDRED
Comp. Factor - Monthly Salary
Rounding COde - Round to Nearest Hundreth
13. Standard rate details are as below,
- Calculation Method - Flat Amount
- Enter Value At Enrollment is selected.
Values for Min,Max,Increment,Default is enter
No other information on any other form is enter.
Lets come to the issue now, please keep in mind that Non Flex Program form is used via Benefits Service Center to execute below situations,
============================================================================================================
Situation 1-
Client wanted to put employees on this plan from Jan.01,2012 BUT is not able to because the pay period start date for Jan.01,2012 falls on Dec.19,2011. As plan is created on Jan.01,2012 so it is not allowing to enroll employees on Jan.01 so instead they are enrolled as of Jan.02,2012(pay period start date for second period 2012).
Questions 1-
Is it ok to start them on Jan.02,2012? Does that mean employees are not covered for one day? Is it possible to change the start date of the plan, variable profile and standard rate before or on Dec.19,2011? OR can we force to enroll employees from Jan.01,2012?
===========================================================================================================
Situation 2 -
New employees are created after January 2012 and and benefits administrator tries to enroll them on the plan. Employee start date falls in middle of the pay period start and end date hence while enrolling a system error pops up that employee assignment is not active as of the pay period start date. This is true so as a workaround, these employees are enrolled on the plan from the next pay period from the date of joining.
Question 2 -
Is this expected functionality in benefits? IF it is then is there a way to enroll employees on the benefit plan as of the joining date, without worrying about the pay period start date?
===============================================================================================================
Situation 3 -
Different behavior on non flex program form for just one employee who has been with the company for 2 years on full-time basis. When tried to enroll this employee on the LTD plan, a pop-up window appears with all rate options setup as per the variable rate profile. If a rate is selected from this list than it defaults the amount in the Defined section of Amount Tab. While for everyone else, when enrolling them on the Plan, no pop-up window appears and the benefits administrator can enter the Amount in Defined section.
Question 3 -
Is this an expected functionality? Can someone please shed some light on why this is happening and how to fix it?
=============================================================================================================
Thats all I have for now and I really need advice on the 3 situations above. I have hit the road block and not sure how to proceed.
Looking forward to the post replies.
Thanks in Advance.

Answer 1

Hello Everyone - The issue I am about to list below maybe peculiar in ERP nature and I think it will get lot of Benefits Guru thinking as it has got me(tho I am no Benefits Guru).
First, lets get basic nuts and bolts in place about the environment,
1. We are using Oracle 11i for just HR with functionality of payroll and benefits as suitable to client.
2. Payroll is outsourced, maintaining benefits is outsourced.
3. Deciding if it is OSB or OAB is bit tricky here, as parts of both are used.
4. Only one Life Event - 'UnRestricted' is used.
5. Benefit Programs, Plans, Options are built just as it is in outsourced Benefits Portal.
6. Activity Rate is built and attached to Payroll Elements. This maintains the correct information for employee benefits and this information is pushed to outsourced Payroll for deductions.
7. Open Enrollements were done in NOV.11 FOR THE year-2012.
8. No Benefits or Payroll concurrent processes are executed in Oracle.
9. New enrollments and changes to current enrollments are done via Benefits Service Center-->Non-Flex Program form.
Now that we have established the ground, lets detail out the issue,
10.A new plan is created for LTD as of Jan.01,2012. This plan falls in a Plan Type. We just have one single Benefit Program. Variable Rate Profile and Standard Rates for LTD plan started as of Jan.01,2012.
11. Eligibility Profile is created for this plan based on only Age band, e.g., 1-20..21-29...etc.
12. Variable Rate Profile is built as per the age band and attached with above Eligibility Profile. Details of important information for Variable Rate profile is as the following,
- Employee Payroll Contribution
- Aftertax
-Monthly
- Multiply By
- Rates
Calculation Method - Multiple of Compensation
Multiplier - .07
Operator - PER hUNDRED
Comp. Factor - Monthly Salary
Rounding COde - Round to Nearest Hundreth
13. Standard rate details are as below,
- Calculation Method - Flat Amount
- Enter Value At Enrollment is selected.
Values for Min,Max,Increment,Default is enter
No other information on any other form is enter.
Lets come to the issue now, please keep in mind that Non Flex Program form is used via Benefits Service Center to execute below situations,
============================================================================================================
Situation 1-
Client wanted to put employees on this plan from Jan.01,2012 BUT is not able to because the pay period start date for Jan.01,2012 falls on Dec.19,2011. As plan is created on Jan.01,2012 so it is not allowing to enroll employees on Jan.01 so instead they are enrolled as of Jan.02,2012(pay period start date for second period 2012).
Questions 1-
Is it ok to start them on Jan.02,2012? Does that mean employees are not covered for one day? Is it possible to change the start date of the plan, variable profile and standard rate before or on Dec.19,2011? OR can we force to enroll employees from Jan.01,2012?
- This depends on your business case. Product feature wise, all are possible options. Some easier than others. You can control when the coverage starts and when the employee starts paying in separate codes. So, one can be different from the other.
===========================================================================================================
Situation 2 -
New employees are created after January 2012 and and benefits administrator tries to enroll them on the plan. Employee start date falls in middle of the pay period start and end date hence while enrolling a system error pops up that employee assignment is not active as of the pay period start date. This is true so as a workaround, these employees are enrolled on the plan from the next pay period from the date of joining.
Question 2 -
Is this expected functionality in benefits? IF it is then is there a way to enroll employees on the benefit plan as of the joining date, without worrying about the pay period start date?
- The only requirement in OAB is that the person should be available as of the life event occured date. Of course in case of a new hire, you cannot write any data before the start date of the person. this needs to be handled via correct configuration. If you want the employees to get enrolled from the next pay period, chose appropriate rate and coverage start date codes.===============================================================================================================
Situation 3 -
Different behavior on non flex program form for just one employee who has been with the company for 2 years on full-time basis. When tried to enroll this employee on the LTD plan, a pop-up window appears with all rate options setup as per the variable rate profile. If a rate is selected from this list than it defaults the amount in the Defined section of Amount Tab. While for everyone else, when enrolling them on the Plan, no pop-up window appears and the benefits administrator can enter the Amount in Defined section.
Question 3 -
Is this an expected functionality? Can someone please shed some light on why this is happening and how to fix it?
-- I think this is a data/setup issue. Please investigate accordingly.=============================================================================================================
Thats all I have for now and I really need advice on the 3 situations above. I have hit the road block and not sure how to proceed.
Looking forward to the post replies.
Thanks in Advance.
Edited by: Vinayaka Prabhu on Apr 23, 2012 9:24 AM