Effective Date for FSA, HSA? Is Retroactive permissible?

[MD-Benefits Guy]

I'm at a new company that has the following parameters in place for new employee initial enrollment:

All benefits are effective on the first of the month after date of hire. Employees may make elections for 30 days after eligibility starts. Example, an employee who starts 9/10/11, will have a benefit effective date of 10/1/11 and have until 10/31 to make changes to his/her elections. I have been told that all elections made in this initial 30 day window will have an effective date retroactive back to 10/1/11. I am concerned because I do not know if this is permissible for certain benefits.

HSA account - From what I know about HSA's, the effective start date of an HSA is tied to when an employee actually establishes the HSA at the bank. HSA establishment guidelines vary from state to state depending on the particular state law pertaining to trust/custional arrangements. Some states do not consider an HSA established until it has been funded. Expenses that are incurred prior to the establishment of the HSA are not qualified medical expnses under the HSA. It is being communicated to the employees that they can seek reimbursement from the first of the month following hire date. Can someone please confirm that

FSA account - I believe that Sect. 125 allows for employees to make elections that are retroactive up to 30 days from an employees hire date. Meaning if an employee is hired on 9/10 and makes and election within 30 days, the law allows for the FSA effective date to go back to 9/10. However, what I am seeing in practice at the new employer - with a Hire date of 9/10, they are allowing emoployees until 10/31 (beyond the 30 days from start) to make elections and telling them that it is retroactive back until 10/1. Is this permissible.....I don't think it is. If the eleciton is made after 30 days of hire, the effective date of the plan would be the day the employee signed the document...right? Can somone provide some insight or point me to a document that supports this.

Thanks in advance.