Life event settings allow you to control the benefit changes that employees can make during life events in Maxwell. You can determine which life events qualify an employee to make changes to benefits, which benefits specifically can be changed, and when those changes should become effective.
In this article:
- Set up life event settings
- Example workflow with some benefits unavailable to change
- Example workflow with all benefits unavailable to change
- FAQ
You can set up these rules in the Administrator view of your Maxwell portal under Settings > Life Events. Both Master and Standard Administrators can view the Life Event Settings, but only Master Administrators can edit them. Learn more about Administrator permissions >
Here’s what you can customize:
Customize which benefits should be available for employees to review and update
The life event settings will default to allow employees to review and update all benefits as a result of any life event. For each life event, you can control which benefits should be available to the employee to review and update. For example, for a “Change of Address” life event, you may want to uncheck all benefits from being available to change. For a “Marriage” life event, you may want to uncheck financial accounts form being available to change.
To edit the settings, click Edit Settings, uncheck the benefits that shouldn’t be available, and click Save. You’ll be asked to confirm the changes. You should think about any life events that are currently in progress and make sure it’s okay that these changes are applied for those employees right away. (You can see which life events are in progress by going to your Dashboard.)
Note: These settings do not allow you to determine what actions an employee can specifically take when they are editing the benefits available to them. For example, you may only want employees to be able to add their new dependent to their medical coverage for a “Marriage” life event. The system will not stop them from taking additional actions, but you will have the control to deny any changes that should not have been made on the Administrator side before you approve the event.
Customize when any changes to benefits should be effective
The life events settings will default to have coverage changes effective on the date of the life event. For each life event, you can control when coverage changes should be effective with the following options:
-
Date of life event
Example: Life Event Date = 9/10, Effective Date = 9/10 -
Date of life event + 30 days
Example: Life Event Date = 9/10, Effective Date = 10/10 -
Date of life event + 60 days
Example: Life Event Date = 9/10, Effective Date = 11/9 -
First of month following life event date
Example: Life Event Date = 9/10, Effective Date = 10/1
Example: Life Event Date = 10/1, Effective Date = 10/1 -
First of month following life event date + 30 days
Example: Life Event Date = 9/10, Effective Date = 11/1
Example: Life Event Date = 10/1, Effective Date = 11/1 -
First of month following life event date + 60 days
Example: Life Event Date = 9/10, Effective Date = 12/1
Example: Life Event Date = 10/1, Effective Date = 12/1
To edit the settings, click Edit Settings, select the effective date from the setting, and click Save. You’ll be asked to confirm the changes. Note that changes to the effective date of coverage will not impact any in-progress life events. (You can see which life events are in progress by going to your Dashboard.)
Note: The date that the coverage is effective will apply to all benefits, even if they’re unchecked to be editable by the employee. That allows the setting to be applied if the Administrator makes a change to the benefits.
Things to keep in mind when setting up life event rules:
- In the system, the employee will always have 30 days from the date that they requested the life event to make changes to their profile (and benefits, if applicable). You cannot customize that window of time from the settings, but you can on an individual employee basis by editing the event from the employee’s profile.
- These settings will only dictate what benefits your employees should be able to make changes to. You’ll still have the ability to make any changes that you like (including the effective date of the benefits changes), should you trigger and process the life event on the employee’s behalf from the Administrator view.
Example workflow with some benefits unavailable to change
Note: to see example workflows where all benefits are available to change, head over to the Change an Employee’s Information or Coverage article, as this is the default functionality even for those employers who are not participating in the beta.
Here is the workflow if an employee requests a life event and some benefits unavailable to change, based on the life event settings:
Please note: the above screens include coverage selection updates that are going live in the employee experience on 10/15. See these release notes for more information.
Example workflow with all benefits unavailable to change
Here is the workflow if an employee requests a life event and no benefits are available to change, based on the life event settings:
-
Will I need to update the life event settings when the benefits renew in the new plan year?
Because the settings are based on the benefit type (rather than the individual plan), you will not need to update the settings when a new plan year begins. The only thing you should keep in mind is that any benefit types you’re offering for the first time will be set to the default, so you may want to configure the settings for that benefit type. -
I want to make an exception for a single employee. What should I do?
You cannot make an exception for a single employee and allow only them to bypass the life event rules, however, you can make the updates from the Administrator view, which would allow you to make any changes you need to.