Latest revision as of 18:01, 12 September 2024

Census Uploads

Selerix provides a standard census file template, which can be used to upload employee data. To ensure a clean, error-free upload, map your employee data in your census file using the same headers as in the standard template. Each tab in the standard template defines a major section/area of employee data.

The standard template can be downloaded via the link on the Census Upload/From File page. The "Key" tab on the spreadsheet will define each of the fields.

Checking "Auto Add departments" will add any department values from the file to the available departments in the case. If this is not checked, and a department is listed on the file that is not in the case, you will be presented with a mapping link on the errors from upload.

Checking "Upload will initiate life events" will initiate a life event, but only if the event code, event description, and event date are included in the census upload (on the Employees tab). The life event will be processed the next time that the employee logs into the system. The employee will be prompted to complete the life event by making changes to any coverage that is configured to allow changes based on that life event.

Checking "Preview" will load the file in "preview" mode only. When this happens, you will see what the results from the upload would be (how many changes, adds, deletions, and errors), but the file will not actually be loaded into the system. This is a "what if" tool.

Note: If you do NOT select Preview when uploading a census, a warning dialog box will display. Selerix recommends using the Preview option at all times.

Special note on "As of Date"

The column "As of Date" on the Employees tab is the piece of data that Benefits Selection uses to determine if data in your upload file is more recent than data in the system. In Benefits Selection, the date of the last change on an employee or coverage is listed on the Employment tab in the Enrollment->Employees area of the system. If the "As of Date" column value in the upload is older than the "Last Change" date on the Employment screen, the line will be skipped from the upload.

Be sure to take this into consideration when populating the "As of Date" field in the upload. There may be cases where you want every employee to be updated, no matter what. In those cases, you should put the As of Date at the date and time the file is being uploaded. However, there may be other situations where you only want to update employees who have not made changes past a certain date. In that case, you would put the date in question as the "As of Date". Based on that setting, anyone who was updated in the system after the "As of Date" will be skipped in your upload, without you having to know who those people were.

Upload types

Census upload Types in the list are presented in the order that they are most likely to be used during the life of a case.

Default

The default upload is typically used for a first time data upload and will typically contain data on the Employees, Dependents, and Current Benefits tabs. Data is sometimes provided on the other tabs as well. For this type of upload, any column where the column header is in bold is considered a required field.

Used before case rules have been defined for a case. No recalculations are performed and business rules are not applied.

Update Employee

The Update Employee load will only look at the Employees tab (and Pay History tab if enabled). SSN or EID is required, along with any fields that you wish to update, and As Of Date.

Used to perform maintenance type updates after a case goes live. The System looks for changes to employee data and performs appropriate life event rules and recalculations for those rules. Will recalc.

For example, if the purpose of your upload is to do salary updates, you would fill in the Employees tab with only the following data: SSN (or EID), Gross Salary, and As of Date. Leave all other fields blank and run as "Update Employee" to update salary only.

Does not update dependent data.

Update Employee and dependents

Use this type of upload to update dependent data.

Repair Coverage

Repair Coverage works similarly to Update Coverage, but does not try to follow any enrollment or benefit plan rules. It will allow for overlapping coverage dates, etc. In general, this is not recommended as it can cause serious data issues if not used correctly. Please only use this if a Selerix employee has recommended it to you.

Used during and after open enrollment to allow direct changes to the census data without applying rules or performing recalculations. Used for changing specific coverage details. No recalculation is done and the Application is not changed.

Update Coverage

The Update Coverage load will make changes to coverage while trying to still follow enrollment rules, and looks at the Employees tab (SSN or EID and As of Date only), the Current Coverage tab at the minimum. If data is on the Benefit Detail, Riders, or Answers tab, those will be updated as well. No employee data from the Employees tab other than SSN/EID and As of Date will be loaded.

For example, if the purpose of your upload is to add a Deduction Option code to a plan that had not been populating it on enrollment previously, you would fill in the Employees tab with SSN (or EID) and As of Date only. The Current Coverage tab would contain SSN (or EID), to match the Employees tab, and the following other fields: Plan name, Product name, Coverage Tier, Coverage Option. It is generally considered safer to keep other known fields on the upload as well, such as Benefit Amount, Effective Date, EE Cost, Pretax, and ER cost.

Used to perform maintenance type updates after a case goes live. System looks for changes to coverage data and performs appropriate life events and recalculations for those events. Will recalc.

Update Coverage and dependents

Updates coverage for employees and dependents.

Custom Imports

If you have created any custom imports under Plug-ins, they will show up in the drop down as well. In general, fields listed in a Custom Import are all required.

Using the Calculate Column in the Census Template

The Current Benefits tab in the standard census template contains a column that will allow you to calculate coverage based on the plan setup (rates, etc.) and additional fields. This column is "Calculate", and requires that you use a "Y" as the value for the mode to recalculate. This can be used in any of the census upload modes that performs recalculations. These modes include: Update Employee, Repair Coverage, Update Coverage, and Update Coverage and Dependents.

Calculating Coverage

Use the Calculate column (with a value of "Y") anytime you want the system to recalculate coverage based on the contents of the census upload. For example, if during OE the rates for a plan were entered incorrectly, you can use the Calculate column to recalculate existing coverage for those who are enrolled in the plan with the wrong rates. You can create a census upload file that contains all the employees who have the incorrect rates for the plan, and use the Calculate column to force the system to recalculate coverage. In this instance, you would need to complete the following:

Ensure you use the correct upload mode, along with the necessary fields to update the data in the system.