Enroll in benefits for new hires

Congratulations on your new job! Picking benefits that meet your needs is important, but it can be overwhelming. Keep reading to learn how benefits enrollment works for new hires.

How benefits enrollment works

Note: Want to learn more about how enrollment works for your specific benefits plan? Reach out to our Customer Care team through Chat or email us at help@league.com.

When you start a new job, you’ll either:

Enroll in a benefits plan (for example, if there are multiple benefits plans and you can choose the one that meets your needs)
Be automatically enrolled in a benefits plan (for example, if there’s only one benefits plan to choose from)

Some benefits plans also have a period of time between the date you’re hired and the date your benefits coverage starts. This is known as a waiting period. For example, if you’re hired on July 1 and the waiting period is three months, your benefits coverage won’t start until October 1.

Benefits plans last for a certain period of time, known as the plan year. For example, a benefits plan could last from May 1 - April 30. Before a new plan year starts, your employer might give employees the chance to review and make changes to their benefits selections for the new plan year. For example, they might give employees from March 1 - March 15 to make changes before a new plan year starts on May 1. This is known as an Open Enrollment period.

If you started your job during the Open Enrollment period and your benefits start before the new plan year...

You’ll go through two benefits enrollment processes:

You’ll enroll in benefits for the current plan year, to ensure you have benefits coverage until the new plan year starts.
You’ll go through Open Enrollment and enroll in benefits for the upcoming plan year.

For example, imagine you started a new job on November 2, and you can enroll in your benefits plan that will start on December 1. There’s also an Open Enrollment period from November 1 - November 15 where all employees can enroll in benefits for the upcoming plan year, starting January 1.

When you enroll in benefits, you first enroll in benefits for the rest of the current plan year (from December 1 - December 31). You then go through Open Enrollment and enroll in benefits for the upcoming plan year (starting January 1). This ensures you have benefits coverage before and after the new plan year starts.

If you started your job during the Open Enrollment period but your benefits don’t start until the new plan year...

You’ll go through Open Enrollment and enroll in benefits for the new plan year.

For example, imagine you started a new job on December 3, but your benefits won’t start until January 1. There’s also an Open Enrollment period from December 1 - December 15. You go through Open Enrollment and enroll in benefits for the upcoming plan year (starting January 1).

If you started your job outside of the Open Enrollment period…

You’ll enroll in benefits for the current plan year, and you’ll get the chance to review and change your benefits selections during Open Enrollment later in the plan year. Keep in mind, your benefits might be prorated (adjusted based on how long is left in the plan year).

For example, imagine your employer offers a benefits plan that lasts from January 1 - December 31. You started a new job on July 1 and can enroll in a benefits plan that starts on August 1. You enroll in benefits for the current plan year (August 1 - December 31). Before a new plan year starts on January 1, you have the chance to go through Open Enrollment where you can review and change your benefits selections.