UKG Pro Open Enrollment Prep: A Benefits Admin Checklist

Preparing UKG Pro for open enrollment means finishing the new plan year setup, rates and eligibility rules well before the window opens, testing elections and deductions with sample employees, confirming carrier files, and planning communication. Most enrollment problems are configuration gaps found by employees instead of by the benefits team.

Key takeaways

  • Work backward from the enrollment start date. UKG's own open enrollment guidance starts planning roughly 120 days out.
  • Build and test the new plan year, rates and eligibility in a test environment before touching production.
  • Test the full chain: election, payroll deduction, carrier file and employee confirmation.
  • Check ACA affordability against the 2027 percentage before rates are final.
  • Monitor elections daily during the window and fix errors before final carrier files go out.

When should open enrollment preparation start?

UKG's blog post on preparing UKG Pro for a successful open enrollment lays out a timeline that starts about 120 days before enrollment with planning and strategy, moves to refresher training about 60 days out, and ends with monitoring while the session is live. It points UKG Pro Benefits customers to an open enrollment rollout toolkit and a job aid for configuring an open enrollment session, and Benefits Administration customers to a renewal guide and checklist. Check the UKG community for the current versions of these resources, since names change over time.

Weeks before window opensMilestoneOwner
16 to 12Renewal decisions, plan changes and contribution strategy finalBenefits leader, finance
12 to 8Plan year, plans and rates configured in testBenefits admin, HRIS
8 to 6Eligibility and deduction testing, carrier file testHRIS, payroll, carriers
6 to 4Communication drafted and approvedBenefits, communications
4 to 2Production setup, final sign-offBenefits admin
During windowDaily monitoring and correctionsBenefits team

What needs to be set up for the new plan year?

The new plan year configuration is where most of the work sits. Treat it as a mini implementation with its own specification.

Plans and options

  • New, changed and discontinued plans, with effective and end dates.
  • Coverage tiers (employee only, employee plus spouse, family) for each plan.
  • Whether the session is passive (current elections roll over) or active (everyone must elect).
  • Evidence of insurability limits for life and disability coverage.

Rates and contributions

  • Employee and employer rates per tier, per pay frequency.
  • Rate differences by location, union or employee group.
  • Tobacco or wellness surcharges and how they are attested.
  • How per-pay-period deductions round, and who absorbs the rounding.

Eligibility

  • Hours thresholds, waiting periods and which employee types are eligible.
  • Dependent rules, including age limits.
  • Employees on leave, in a measurement period or newly rehired.

A realistic scenario: a company adds a high deductible plan with an HSA but forgets to update the eligibility rule for part-time employees in one state. Those employees see the plan, elect it, and the error surfaces when the carrier rejects their enrollment in January. Testing eligibility by population catches this in the test environment.

How do you test elections, deductions and carrier files?

Pick sample employees who represent each combination of plan, tier, location and pay frequency, then walk each one through enrollment as the employee would. UKG's employee instructions for how to make open enrollment elections describe the steps employees follow: review the session, verify beneficiaries and dependents, enroll in or decline each plan, then review and submit. Beneficiary percentages must total 100% for primary and for secondary beneficiaries, and after submission changes generally require the benefits administrator.

Test caseCheck
Passive enrollee, no changesCurrent elections roll to new plan year at new rates
Employee adds spouse and childTier changes, dependent data and documents captured
Employee elects life above guaranteed issuePending coverage and evidence of insurability flow
Part-time employeeSees only eligible plans
Biweekly and semimonthly payeeCorrect per-period deduction amounts
Employee who saves a draft and never submitsDefault coverage behaves as policy says

Then run the carrier file for those test employees and have each carrier confirm the file format and content. Your deduction testing should reach payroll too. Our article on what actually happens in HRMS and payroll integration explains where deduction mismatches usually start.

Treat sign-off like a small go-live. The same discipline in our UKG implementation go-live readiness checklist (named owners, documented test results and a rollback plan) applies to a new plan year.

What ACA checks belong in open enrollment prep?

If you are an applicable large employer, open enrollment is where affordability and offer-of-coverage decisions become real. The IRS Instructions for Forms 1094-C and 1095-C define an applicable large employer generally as one with 50 or more full-time employees, including full-time equivalents, in the previous year.

IRS Revenue Procedure 2026-26 sets the required contribution percentage used for employer coverage affordability at 10.22% for plan years beginning in 2027. Before rates are final, check that the lowest cost self-only option for full-time employees passes your chosen affordability safe harbor at that percentage. Also confirm that UKG Pro captures the data you will need for Form 1095-C next year: offers, enrollments, waivers and the months each applied.

How should you communicate open enrollment to employees?

  • Send a short notice before the window with dates, what changed and where to log in.
  • Explain whether enrollment is passive or active in the first sentence.
  • List documents employees may need, such as proof of a new dependent.
  • Remind non-completers at midpoint and two days before close.
  • Provide a mobile-friendly path for frontline employees without desk access.

During the window, UKG's guidance points to reports that compare open enrollment elections with current elections so you can spot unexpected changes, and to verifying elections before final interface files go to carriers. Our guide to UKG reporting with Data Hub and People Analytics covers building monitoring views if you need more than the standard reports.

Frequently Asked Questions

Should open enrollment be passive or active?

Passive enrollment rolls current elections forward and reduces workload, which suits years with few plan changes. Active enrollment forces every employee to make choices and refreshes dependent and beneficiary data, which suits years with major plan changes. Whichever you choose, configure and test the default for employees who never submit.

How long should the enrollment window be?

Two to three weeks is common, long enough for employees to discuss options with family and short enough to keep attention. Leave time after the window closes to correct errors, send final carrier files and load deductions before the first payroll of the new plan year.

What is the most common open enrollment setup mistake?

Testing elections without testing deductions and carrier files. An election can look correct on screen while the payroll deduction uses the old rate or the carrier file drops a dependent. Test the full chain for every plan, tier and pay frequency combination before the window opens.

How does open enrollment affect ACA reporting?

The offers, waivers and enrollments recorded during open enrollment feed the following year's Form 1095-C. If offer data is incomplete or plan affordability is not documented, reporting becomes a reconstruction exercise. Confirm the data captured in UKG Pro matches what your ACA reporting process needs.

Next steps for this enrollment season

  • Set the window dates and build the backward timeline in the table above.
  • Write the plan year specification: plans, tiers, rates and eligibility.
  • Build test employees for every combination and run the full chain.
  • Confirm affordability at the 2027 percentage before rates are final.
  • Assign a daily monitoring owner for the enrollment window.

For implementation and go-live topics that apply to benefits too, see our UKG guides.

Last reviewed: October 2026.

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