This document provides employees who are benefits eligible for the first time (new hires, recent transfers/promotions to a benefit eligible position, etc.) directions on how to complete benefits enrollment in Workday.
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· Employees have 31 days from the date they become benefits eligible to complete enrollment.
· If employees don’t enroll within the 31-day window, their next opportunity to enroll in benefits is during Open Enrollment, or until they experience a qualifying life event (for detailed instructions on how to make changes to benefit elections for qualifying life events, please review the Changing Benefits in Workday for Life Events Knowledge Base Article).
· Employees may not elect coverage as an employee AND receive coverage as a dependent if both they and their spouse or partner are employed by the University.
· If employees are adding beneficiaries or dependents, they must provide Social Security Numbers (SSN), dates of birth, and addresses for those individuals. Proof of relationship is required for all dependents. Accepted documents include:
· Spouse/Civil Union Partner: marriage or civil union certificate.
· Child: birth certificate or adoption documents.
· For military veteran dependents ages 26 through 30, the Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active-Duty document is also required.
· Please visit the Inside UChicago | Benefits page for more information about benefit plans.
1. Log into Workday using your CNetID and password.
2. Navigate to My Tasks by selecting the mail icon in the top-right corner of the page, and then choose either the Benefit Change - Hire or the Benefit Change - Employment Status Change task on the left side of the screen.
3. Select the Let’s Get Started button to begin the process.
4. The Hire window will appear. Under the window title, employees will see the Projected Total Cost Per Paycheck. This information will update automatically as one moves along the enrollment, based on the coverages that are selected, and will show up under the title of each window that pops up during the process. The Hire window is divided into 3 areas:
a. Health Care and Accounts – This area includes 6 cards: Medical, Dental, Vision, Health Savings Account, Healthcare FSA, and Dependent Care FSA.
b. Insurance and Retirement – This area has 9 cards: Basic Life Insurance, Supplemental Life Insurance, Spouse Life Insurance, Child Life Insurance, Personal Accident Insurance, Basic Long Term Disability Insurance, Optional Long Term Disability Insurance, Supplemental Retirement Plan (Pre-Tax) and Supplemental Retirement Plan (Roth).
c. Additional Benefits – This area contains 3 cards: Legal Assistance Plan, Staff & Faculty Assistance Program, and Business Travel Accident Insurance.
i. Most of the cards listed above, except those indicating benefits offered by UChicago at no cost to the employee, will show up by default as Waived. To make changes, navigate to the card requiring updates. Employees are encouraged to review ALL cards to confirm their elections. After reviewing a card, a label will appear above its title: REVIEWED if no changes were made or UPDATED if edits were made.
ii. Employees aged 50 or older can make additional catch-up contributions beyond the IRS maximum annual limit toward their retirement accounts. In addition to the cards listed above, they will also see the Supplemental Retirement Plan Catch-Up card.
iii. Also, employees in certain job profiles or departments may see additional cards beyond those listed above.
5. Follow these steps to make changes to the Medical card:
a. Select Enroll under the corresponding card.
b. Use the option buttons under the Selection column to Select the plan in which to enroll.
i. Initially, the costs displayed under the You Pay (Monthly) column assume employee-only coverage. This can be updated in a later step.
ii. To view detailed information about plans, select their title under the Benefit Plan column.
iii. Carefully read the Health Care Instructions (including Important Information and General Instructions) located on the right side of the screen before making elections.
iv. When a plan has been selected, Workday automatically waives any other plans.
c. Select the Confirm and Continue button to proceed to the next screen, where dependents can be added if necessary.
d. Using the Hamburger Menu (the icon with 3 dots and 3 dashes) to the right of the Coverage prompt box, indicate the coverage level by choosing one of the options from the dropdown menu. The Plan cost per paycheck for the selected coverage level will appear below the Coverage prompt box.
i. If “Employee Only” is chosen, select Save to continue.
ii. If any other coverage level is selected, add the dependents that will be covered under the plan.
1. To insert a dependent, select the Add New Dependent button. A dialog box called Add my Dependent from Enrollment will pop up. If this dependent will be designated as a beneficiary under the life insurance plans, check the Use as Beneficiary checkbox. If not, leave it unchecked. Select OK to continue.
2. Fill out the fields with the dependent’s information. Country, First Name, Last Name, Relationship, Date of Birth, Gender, National ID, Address and Phone Number are required fields for submission and must have a value.
a. Country, Address and Phone Number may have been pre-populated with the employee’s own information. Change these fields if needed.
b. Select the button Add under the National IDs section to insert this information. Fill out the fields. Country, National ID Type and Add/Edit ID must have a value as they are required fields to move forward.
3. Select Save and add as many dependents as needed following the steps above.
e. Once all desired dependents have been added, make sure to select the checkbox next to each of their names so that they will be covered under the plan.
i. If a dependent selected to be covered under the health care plan does not have a Social Security Number (SSN) entered in the National IDs section when their record was created, the Dependent Social Security Numbers section will appear, listing all dependents missing this information. For each dependent in the list, enter their SSN or provide a reason for its absence. This information must be provided to proceed with the elections.
f. Select Save to complete elections for the Medical card.
6. For Dental and Vision insurance, select Enroll under the respective card, and follow the same procedure as for the Medical coverage. Please note that there is no need to create new dependents once all of them have been added for the first time. Just select the checkbox next to their name to indicate who will be covered under each plan.
7. ONLY when the “Blue Cross Blue Shield HDHP Maroon Savings Choice Plan” is chosen, the University will automatically open a Health Savings Account (HSA) with HSA Bank and will contribute certain amount to the account, depending on the medical coverage level and the enrollment date. In addition to the University contribution, employees have the opportunity to contribute additional funds through pre-tax payroll deductions, but these contributions are not mandatory. To set up these voluntary contributions to the Health Savings Account:
a. Select Enroll under the corresponding card.
b. Using the option buttons under the Selection column, choose Select.
i. The IRS limits the amount that can be contributed each year. To review the minimum and maximum amounts, select HSA Bank under the Benefit Plan column.
ii. Carefully read the Health Savings Account Instructions (including Important Information and General Instructions) located on the right side of the screen before moving forward.
iii. Changes to the HSA contributions can be made throughout the year by completing an HSA Benefits Change in Workday. For detailed instructions on how to do it, please review the Changing your Health Savings Account (HSA) Contributions in Workday Knowledge Base Article.
c. Select the Confirm and Continue button.
d. On the next screen, indicate the HSA contribution amount by filling out either the Per Paycheck or the Annual field. Only one field needs to be filled out, as the other will automatically calculate based on your entry.
e. Select Save to continue.
8. If interested in enrolling in a Flexible Spending Account (FSA), follow these steps:
a. For a Healthcare FSA:
i. Select Enroll under the corresponding card.
ii. Use the option buttons under the Selection column to Select the desired type of FSA.
1. The IRS limits the amount that can be contributed each year. To review the minimum and maximum amounts, select the title of each FSA under the Benefit Plan column.
2. Carefully read the Spending Account Instructions (including Important Information and General Instructions) located on the right side of the screen before moving forward.
3. Take into consideration that employees enrolled in the “Blue Cross Blue Shield HDHP Maroon Savings Choice Plan” are NOT eligible to enroll in the HealthEquity Health Care FSA. This type of account is ONLY available for employees enrolled in a different medical plan.
4. The HealthEquity Limited Purpose FSA is ONLY available for employees enrolled in the “Blue Cross Blue Shield HDHP Maroon Savings Choice Plan.” Employees enrolled in a different medical plan are NOT eligible to choose this type of account.
5. FSA elections cannot be changed after enrollment is completed unless a qualified life event occurs. In such cases, the FSA contribution changes must be consistent with the type of life event.
iii. Select the Confirm and Continue button.
iv. On the next screen, indicate the HSA contribution amount by filling out either the Per Paycheck or the Annual field. Only one field needs to be filled out, as the other will automatically calculate based on your entry.
v. Select Save to continue.
b. For a Dependent Care FSA, select Enroll under the corresponding card and follow the same procedure as for the Healthcare FSA.
i. Employees are eligible for this type of FSA no matter what medical plan they choose.
9. No action is required to enroll in the Basic Life Insurance plan. All benefits eligible employees are automatically enrolled on their date of hire or benefits eligibility date. However, it is important to designate one or more beneficiaries for this type of insurance. To do so, follow this process:
a. Select Manage on the Basic Life Insurance card.
b. As this plan is automatically selected with no option to waive, select the Confirm and Continue button at the bottom of the screen.
c. Use the Plus (+) icon under Primary Beneficiaries and/or Secondary Beneficiaries to add one or more beneficiary persons or trusts.
i. Select the Hamburger Menu to the right of the prompt box under the column Beneficiary, to choose the beneficiaries.
1. If the Use as Beneficiary box was checked when creating dependents, they will be available to select by going to the Existing Beneficiary Persons option. Otherwise, use Add New Beneficiary or Trust to create new beneficiaries.
ii. Employees may add as many beneficiary persons or trusts as they wish, but the sum of Percentages must be equal to 100% for both Primary Beneficiaries and Secondary Beneficiaries.
d. Select Save to proceed with the elections.
10. To elect any additional insurance plans, such as Supplemental Life Insurance, Spouse Life Insurance, Child Life Insurance, or Personal Accident Insurance, follow these steps:
a. Select Enroll on the appropriate card.
b. Use the option buttons under the Selections column to Select the insurance plan in which enrollment is desired.
c. Select the Confirm and Continue button to proceed to the next screen.
d. Using the Hamburger Menu to the right of the Coverage prompt box, indicate the coverage level by choosing one of the options from the dropdown menu.
e. For Supplemental Life Insurance, and Personal Accident Insurance, add one or more beneficiary persons or trusts using the Plus (+) icon.
f. For Spouse Life Insurance, Child Life Insurance, and Personal Accident Insurance (if family coverage is elected), make sure to select the checkbox next to the name of existing dependents so that they will be covered under the plan.
g. Select Save.
11. The Basic Long Term Disability Insurance plan will default to selected. To waive this plan:
a. Select Manage on the Basic Long Term Disability Insurance card.
b. Select the option button Waive under the Selection column to drop enrollment in the plan. Select Confirm and Continue.
12. To enroll in the Optional Long Term Disability Insurance plan:
a. Select Enroll under the corresponding card.
b. Under the Selection column, choose the Select option button to enroll in the plan. Select Confirm and Continue.
i. It is recommended to first waive enrollment in the Basic Long Term Disability Insurance plan before enrolling in the Optional Long Term Disability Insurance plan. However, if both plans are selected, enrollment in the Basic plan will be waived once enrollment in the Optional plan has been approved by VOYA (insurance company).
c. Select Save.
13. Follow these steps to make contributions to the Supplemental Retirement Plan (Pre-Tax), Supplemental Retirement Plan (Roth) and/or Supplemental Retirement Plan Catch-Up:
a. Select Enroll on the appropriate card.
b. Under the Selection column, choose the Select option button to enroll in the desired plan.
i. Carefully read the Retirement Savings Instructions located on the right side of the screen before moving forward.
c. Select Confirm and Continue.
d. When indicating the contribution amount, first select either a dollar amount or a percentage of pay in the Contribution Type prompt box. Then, in the corresponding field, either Per Paycheck Contribution ($) or Contribution (%) based on the previous selection, enter the chosen amount or percentage to contribute.
i. Be careful if choosing the Percentage option, as the contribution will be a percentage of the gross pay, not of the IRS maximum allowed contribution amount. DO NOT elect 100% unless intending to contribute the entire paycheck.
ii. Bi-weekly paid employees will have their contribution amount deducted EACH pay period.
iii. Employees who are 50 or over and eligible for the catch-up contributions, should not elect catch-up contributions unless they are contributing enough to voluntary contributions (ERIP – Voluntary plus SRP contributions) to reach the IRS maximum limit.
e. Select Save to continue.
14. To opt into the optional Legal Assistance Plans, do the following:
a. Select Enroll under the applicable card.
b. Use the option buttons under the Selection column to Select the desired plan.
c. Select Confirm and Continue, and then select Save.
15. Staff & Faculty Assistance Program and Business Travel Accident Insurance are additional benefits that UChicago provides at no cost to employees. Employees will not be able to make changes to these benefits.
16. Select Review and Sign once all desired benefit elections have been made.
17. A page with a summary of the elections will appear. Review the Selected Benefits (including Dependents and Beneficiaries) and Waived Benefits for accuracy.
18. Scroll down to the Attachments section. If dependents are being covered, proof of relationship must be uploaded in this box. Start uploading documents either by choosing Select Files and selecting the appropriate file from your computer, or by dragging and dropping the file into the gray box. To insert additional documents, select Upload and add the files. If an incorrect document is mistakenly uploaded, select the trash can icon.
19. Carefully read the Electronic Signature section and select the I Accept checkbox.
20. Select Submit to complete the enrollment process. Once this option has been chosen, the event will be routed to a Benefits Specialist for approval.
21. Select the View 2025 Benefits Statement button to print the benefit elections for your records.
22. Once elections are approved, look up this information by doing the following:
a. Select Menu in the top-left corner and choose the Benefits and Pay App under the Personal category.
b. In the Benefits and Pay panel on the left side of the screen, select Benefits, and then choose Benefit Elections.
i. If the Benefits and Pay panel is collapsed:
1. Use the Navigation Pane icon, represented by an arrow next to a vertical line, and located at the top left corner of the App, to expand or collapse the panel and adjust screen space.
2. Alternatively, with the panel collapsed, select the Benefits icon, represented by a shield icon with a heart inside, and choose Benefit Elections from the available options.
c. Select View Details under a specific card to review additional information. To see all current and future benefit elections in a table format, select the View as Grid button at the top of the screen, under the My Monthly Totals section.