Hickok & Boardman

By Doreen Dartez

Payroll and the related technology supporting HR is often a topic of concern for our clients.  An all-in-one solution with payroll, benefits enrollment, self-service and more certainly assures integration if all are proprietary, however the payroll providers lack deep benefits expertise and often the employer is left to navigate the support and expertise needed with less than great customer service.  Then there is the option of a “point solution” dedicated to one focus in their functionality, i.e., benefits administration and enrollment.  Benefits consulting agencies like Hickok & Boardman HR Intelligence offer a solution, however companies may have concerns as to how the employee data will flow (or not flow) from payroll, and how deductions will be accurate when enrollment is completed in a separate solution.  All of these are valid points and concerns, which is where Employee Navigator comes in. Employee Navigator has several pre-built integrations to multiple payroll (HCM/HRIS) providers, so that employers can ensure accuracy, not have to engage in dual data entry, and rely on their trusted H&B team members to support them.  Just a few of the providers on the list include ADP, Paychex, Paycor, Paylocity, PrimePay, Alliance HCM, Heartland, iSolved, Asure, and Dominion Systems, and the list of pre-built integrations keeps growing. This gives companies flexibility to move providers without disrupting the benefit enrollment technology in place. Certainly, this is ideal, however if you do not leverage one of these payroll providers or are not ready to leverage the integration yet H&B is here to support you to make sure Employee Navigator maintains new hires and accurate benefits data. And finally, if you need our help in determining the best fit payroll provider for your organization, that ideally integrates with Employee Navigator, we are happy to help.

If you really want to go “full throttle” on automating and integrating, Employee Navigator allows smaller employers to enjoy integration with the carriers as well, when traditionally carriers would require 50-100 eligible to accept this electronic file.  Due to the popularity of this platform to support all size organizations, various carriers now accept “EDI” file feeds even when smaller employers leverage Navigator for enrollment.  This means no more updating carrier websites or sending emails or files with changes, hoping all is updated promptly and accurately. As you can imagine this will also help your organization ensure compliance, increase accuracy, and reduce premium leaks. The employer premium invoice processes create billing errors that are estimated to tie up at least $10 billion each month. With a 10% cost of capital, this equates to $1 billion dollars tied up in costly timing delays and mistakes related to carrier billing. Every time an employee starts, stops, or changes benefits they create the possibility for their employer to lose money. That’s each time any employee is onboarded or terminated, retires, or has any qualifying life event. That’s a lot of opportunities for error. In fact, a study by Aberdeen Group found that 12% to 15% of all billing from benefits carriers contains errors. For a company with 300 employees receiving benefits, billing errors could amount to over $300,000 a year. These real facts just validate why integrations related to payroll are worth serious consideration. There are varying opinions and concerns as to what model is best, which is why we invest in a partnership with iBTR; to help navigate the options as well as supporting our clients with discussions around your challenges or initiatives. Contact us today to discuss how Employee Navigator, with payroll integration, can help your HR team reduce stress and time spent on benefits and payroll, while increasing accuracy and potentially saving money in the long run.