Extension of OE for Flex Plan

[Guest B52blond]

Our open enrollment period for the flexible spending account program runs during a specified month of the year. All materials are quite clear as to the date the open enrollment closes. The forms also clearly state any elections submitted after the close of open enrollment will not be processed.

This year a form was submitted electing NOT to participate in the flex spending. Five days after open enrollment closed, the person changed their mind and called to ask that their election be changed so that they could particpate in the flex spending program. They were initially told this could not be done as open enrollment had closed. This was a person with high rank, and suffice it to say, 17 days later an email was sent out to most of our 3800 employees (about 1000 do not have email access) advising that the open enrollment period had been extended by one month.

There was no plan amendment for this, simply an email going out to some, not all, employees. My feeling is that we are not in compliance with the Plan, or IRS regulations, and may have jeopardized the entire plan. I seem to be the only person worried about this. Am I correct in worrying?

[Guest Benefit Specialist]

Yes I believe you have a reason to worry about this. This employee has opened up the plan for extensions and exceptions every single time you have an enrollment. I would also think you need to contact all the other employees in some way who don't have e-mail. Hopefully someone else will have a suggestion for you.

[leevena]

B52Blond...while I agree that there are problems with this, I would like to suggest that you might want to ignore it, IF YOU ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE PLAN. If you are responsible, then I would be concerned, but if you are not, why worry? This person who is a senior manager clearly has the juice to make this happen.

Let me explain. 1. There are ways that the OE could be reopened legally. 2. And while it does appear that not all of the staff were notified, are you abosolutely sure that they were not? 3. I doubt if a reputable consultant or TPA would allow this to happen illegally. 4. If I were that person, and had that much juice with the company, why not just change the submittal date on my form? That is much easier and safer than changing the whole process.

I understand your feelings, but I have found that often times when we start to do more research, we find that our understanding of the facts are different.

good luck

[Guest ehs]

No one likes it when the "brass" don't play by the rules that the rest of the world has to play by, however, you will never win that battle. Anyway, if the OE window is say the month of November for a January 1 date, then all that has happened is that your internal "policy" has been compromised, this is not a compliance breakdown. If the election was turned in after 1/1, sure it is a problem, but fixable (corrected election form). The longer the problem continues, i.e., continued payroll deductions, the more likely you put your plan on the radar. I don't think anyone on this forum would suggest that you do something below board, but we have all had these types of run-ins. Good luck.