In this release, we have added new features and implemented improvements mainly related to the Benefits and Payroll module with some other global changes. If you have any questions or feedback around these new features or improvements, please send us an email at support@uzio.com

To read about our last major release from May ’24, click here

UZIO Benefits Enhancements

Enhanced Employee Benefits Enrollment Experience

We are pleased to introduce significant improvements to the employee benefits enrollment experience for life insurance and critical illness benefits. These enhancements provide employees with a clearer understanding of their benefit options right from the start.

Guaranteed Coverage Information:

Employees will now see clear information about the guaranteed coverage they will receive. 

Pending Coverage Information:

The system will also display any pending coverage amounts that require approval from the insurance carrier. This ensures that employees are fully aware of any need to provide Evidence of Insurability (EOI) for certain coverage amounts.

Upfront Cost Display:

For each coverage amount, the respective cost will be available upfront. This transparency ensures there are no surprises regarding the cost of elected coverages and any changes in per pay period deductions once coverage is approved.

These updates are designed to streamline the benefits enrollment process and empower employees with clear information so that employees are well-informed if coverage selection requires additional steps to be performed to secure it.

Enhanced Beneficiary Designation Management

Previously, beneficiary designation was an optional step in the UZIO enrollment process. However, some carriers mandate beneficiary designation if an employee enrolls in the plan. To streamline enrollment and ensure compliance with carrier requirements, we have made an improvement to allow administrators to configure beneficiary designation as mandatory or optional at the plan level.

Mandatory Designation: If designation is mandatory for a plan, employees will be required to provide beneficiary information during enrollment. They won't be able to complete enrollment until this step is finished.

Optional Designation: If the designation is optional for a plan, employees can still choose to designate a beneficiary, but it won't be required.

This enhancement ensures compliance with carrier requirements for admins and potentially avoids claim delays or issues in the future due to a lack of beneficiary information.

Streamlining Benefit Class Management

Benefit classes determine employee eligibility for benefits, making them a crucial element of your benefits admin system. Based on valuable feedback from broker users, we've implemented improvements to the benefit class management structure, giving the users more control over class assignment.

Renaming Default Class: Brokers can now rename the system-generated "Default" class to something more meaningful for their organization. Previously, this was not possible.

Editing and Deleting Classes: Benefit classes can now be edited or deleted, as long as no employees are assigned to them. Previously, this was not an option, forcing brokers to retain unused classes when creating new ones for a new plan year. This self-service functionality streamlines class management.

Employee Class Assignment:

• Single Class Scenario: If only one benefit class exists in company settings, the system will still assign that class to new employees by default if no class is explicitly chosen during onboarding or through census data upload.
• Multiple Class Scenario: When multiple classes are available, the system no longer assigns a default class automatically. Instead, a prompt will appear for the user to select the appropriate class when adding an employee through the user interface or during census data upload.

Criteria-Based Class Assignment:

• Unmatched or Multiple Matches: Previously, if an employee's information didn't meet any criteria-based class requirements, or if they met the criteria for multiple classes, the system would automatically assign them to the default class. This has been changed. Now, the system will prompt the user to select the correct class before saving the employee record.

Automatic Class Assignment During Profile Edits: When an employee's profile is edited, the system will automatically check if the changes qualify them for a different class based on the defined criteria. If a new class applies, it will be assigned, and the user will be notified about this change upon saving the profile.

Overall, these improvements will provide greater control and flexibility in managing benefit class assignments, improving efficiency and user experience.

UZIO Payroll Enhancements

Vermont Child Care Contribution Tax (New Employer Tax)

Effective July 1, 2024, Vermont has introduced a new child care contribution tax aimed at supporting child care services across the state. Employers are required to pay a 0.44% payroll tax on all employee wages earned in Vermont. Additionally, employers may choose to deduct and withhold a maximum of 25 percent of the required contribution (i.e., 0.11%) from employee wages. The employer may choose to withhold a smaller portion from employee wages or choose not to withhold any amount from employees. More information can be found here: Vermont Department of Taxes: Child Care Contribution

If you have employees earning wages in Vermont, for payrolls with pay dates on and after July 1st, you will see this as an additional cost in your payrolls. By default, the payroll system will assume that the employer is not withholding any amount from employees (i.e., that the employer is paying the full 0.44%). If you would like to withhold from employees as per the state provided maximum limits, you are required to complete the setup in your payroll system on the State Taxation page available under Payroll setup. For any help with this setup, you can reach us at support@uzio.com.

UZIO Global Enhancements

Company Division Master List

We're excited to announce an update to our Company Master List, allowing the users to centralize the management of all Company Divisions in one convenient location. This means improved data accuracy, consistency, and a more efficient way to track information across the organization.

Please reach out to us at support@uzio.com if you have any questions or feedback.