This article explains how direct employees who have clients that signed up for US Global Payroll or enabled the Embedded Payroll feature can sign up for benefits.
If a US employer offers employees a benefits package, employees can review the plans and enroll in coverage straight from the Deel platform.
We will handle all enrollment, contribution, and deduction data for benefits providers and for payroll processing.
Employees will only be able to sign up for benefits if their client has signed up for US Global Payroll or enabled the US Embedded Payroll feature
In this article:
Enrolling with health insurance
Enrolling with a HSA or FSA account
How to view the employer's benefits offering
✅ Step 1 - Select Benefits
Click the Benefits tab on the home page.
Note: This tab will only appear on an employee's account if their client is offering a Benefits package.
✅ Step 2 - Review offerings
Click View Details to review the type of benefits that your employer is offering, your enrollment status, and other important details.
Adding Dependents
Before enrolling in any benefits, employees must add their dependents to ensure that the costs are accurate updated based on their selections.
After adding dependents to the account, employees can then decide which particular benefits they want to to enroll in for their dependents.
Note: If the employee doesn't have dependents, this step can be ignored.
✅ Step 1 - Select Add Dependents
Select Benefits, then click the Dependents tab
✅ Step 2 - Add details
Add details about the dependent including name, address, social security number, and more.
Adding Healthcare Benefit: Health Insurance Coverage
Health Insurance that will help individuals and families pay for medical expenses in the US is classified as a medical Healthcare benefit on the Deel platform.
✅ Step 1 - Select Healthcare benefits
Select the Benefits tab to pull up the list of benefits offered by the employer.
Select View Details to begin the enrollment process for health insurance medical benefits
✅ Step 2 - Compare coverage options and prices
There may be multiple tiers and insurance plans to choose from.
Carefully review the costs and coverage details, and adjust for dependents by selecting the toggle option on or off.
✅ Step 3 - Enroll
Select a preferred plan by clicking Review and Enroll.
Review the selection and again click Enroll.
Please note that employee contributions are applied at the end of the calendar month.
Adding Life Insurance
✅ Step 1 -Select Life Insurance
Select the Benefits tab to pull up the list of benefits offered by the employer.
Select View Details to begin the enrollment process for life insurance
✅ Step 2 - Click Start Enrollment
✅ Step 3 - Add Beneficiaries
Employees must have at least one primary beneficiary and one contingency beneficiary to enroll with a life insurance policy.
The combined values assigned to all beneficiaries must equal 100%.
✅ Step 4 - Review beneficiary amounts
After adding beneficiaries, employees can click Change Amounts to edit the assigned values of the insurance policy.
✅ Step 5 - Update life insurance form
Complete the insurance form on the page by entering all required fields including age, gender, and tobacco usage.
Select to either contribute to the life insurance policy with a set dollar amount or a salary percentage.
✅ Step 6 - Click Enroll
Adding FSA or HSA
Flexible Savings Account (FSA) and Health Savings Account (HSA) are both types of tax-advantaged savings accounts that are used to help individuals and families cover eligible medical expenses in the United States.
✅ Step 1 - Select FSA or HSA
Select the Benefits tab to pull up the list of benefits offered by the employer.
Select View Details to begin the enrollment process for either an FSA or HSA account.
It is not possible to enroll in both an FSA and an HSA account.
✅ Step 2 - Click Start Enrollment
✅ Step 3 - Update annual contribution
Enter the total amount the employee wants to contribute for the entire calendar year.
Employees will see the deductions per pay period, and also the amount their employer will contribute to the account.
✅ Step 4 - Enroll
Select Review and Enroll, then again click Enroll.
Review the selection and again click Enroll.
Please note that employee contributions are applied at the end of the calendar month.
Declining Coverage
Employees can review their employer’s benefits plan package and choose to decline coverage or opt out of auto-enrolled benefits.
✅ Step 1 - Review plan details
Select the Benefits tab to pull up the list of benefits offered by the employer.
To opt out of coverage, select View Details
✅ Step 2 - Select Edit
✅ Step 3 - Decline Coverage
Click Decline Coverage, then select a reason from the dropdown menu.
Click Decline Coverage again to confirm.
FAQs
[ACCORDION] How do employees see the enrollment deadline?
Deel will email reminders about the benefits enrollment deadline. Employees will also receive notifications on their Deel account about the upcoming deadline date.
Employees can also reach out to the manager at their company for additional details about the enrollment deadline.
[ACCORDION] Can employees change their benefits plan?
Yes, employees can change their benefits plan or contributions amounts as long as the enrollment deadline has not yet passed.
Select the Benefits tab and choose the benefit. Select the Plan Overview tab, click the Edit button.
After the enrollment deadline has passed, emoployees can change benefits:
- If they’ve had a qualifying life event
- If the employer changes its benefits offering
- At the next open enrollment period as determined by the employer
[ACCORDION] Can employees make changes to their plan if they have had a qualifying life event?
Qualifying Life Events are major changes that make employees eligible to add or remove dependents from their benefits plan, or to make new plan selections outside of the regular Open Enrollment period.
If there is a Qualifying Life Event - like having a baby or getting married - contact us as soon as possible and our team will reopen enrollment for benefits.
[ACCORDION] Are health insurance and other benefits taxable in the US?
Yes, employees may have to pay taxes on their benefits in addition to their monthly contributions.
Taxation regarding healthcare plans is regulated specifically by section 125(c) of the Internal Revenue Code; other benefit types are covered by other parts of the US tax code.
Any policies opened are agreements between the insurance broker and the employer, without Deel’s involvement.
Please consult a professional accountant or tax advisor for assistance on taxation relating to the specific employer benefits package.
[ACCORDION] When can employees start using their insurance?
Employee insurance benefits will become active on a date that is pre-determined by the company.
Employees will not be able to select an activation date.
The employer may have opted for a back-dated activation date, immediate activation, activation after 30 calendar days, or something else.
Please reach out to the employer to learn when the benefits plan will become active.
[ACCORDION] Will employees be automatically added to their employer’s benefits plan?
No. If the enrollment deadline has passed and the employee hasn't made a benefits selection, they will be automatically opted-out of coverage.
[ACCORDION] What is the difference between an FSA and HSA?
HSA and FSA are both types of tax-advantaged savings accounts that are used to help individuals and families cover eligible medical expenses in the United States.
A Health Savings Accounts (HSA) is a savings account that allows individuals with high-deductible health insurance plans to set aside pre-tax money to pay for qualified medical expenses.
A Flexible Spending Account (FSA) is an employer-sponsored benefit that allows employees to set aside pre-tax money from their paycheck to pay for qualified medical expenses.
While the purpose of these accounts are similar, there are significant differences between HSA and FSA when it comes to eligibility requirements, contributions, withdrawals, and rollovers of unused funds.
Therefore, it is not possible to enroll in both at the same time.
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