Concept: Plan Changes and Waiting Periods
Benefit plans can have a waiting period that the employee must complete before receiving
benefits. If the employee has an event that requires a change in plans, the new plan might
have a different waiting period.
If the employee doesn't complete the waiting period before a plan change, Workday:
- Enforces the waiting period associated with the new plan.
- Credits the employee for any time spent waiting for the old plan to take effect.
- Uses the initial waiting period start date as the start date of the second waiting period.Example: The first waiting period begins on June 30, so the new plan uses the same June 30 start date for the waiting period.
If an employee completes their initial waiting period in a benefit group and moves to
another benefit group, Workday waives the waiting period for the second group.
Employee Completes Waiting Period for One Plan Before Selecting
a Different Plan
Bob begins at his new company on March 1 and elects medical and dental
coverage. The plans have these waiting periods:
- Medical: 1 month (coverage begins April 1).
- Dental: 1 month (coverage begins April 1).
Then Bob goes through a second enrollment event on April 15.
Second Enrollment | Effect |
|---|---|
Bob moves to a new benefit group and selects new medical and dental
plans, each with 3 month waiting periods. | Coverage begins:
Workday waives the waiting period for new coverage because Bob has
completed the initial 1 month waiting period. When an employee
satisfies a plan waiting period requirement and later elects a new plan of
the same type, Workday waives waiting period requirements for the second
plan. If the employee loses benefits due to a leave of absence, a reduction
in work hours, or other change, Workday restarts the waiting
period. |
Employee Changes From One Plan to Another Before Completing the Initial Waiting
Period
Federico begins working at his new company on March 1 and elects medical and
dental coverage. The plans have these waiting periods:
- Medical Coverage: 3 months (coverage begins June 1).
- Dental Coverage: 4 months (coverage begins July 1).
Second Enrollment (April 15) | Effect |
|---|---|
Federico moves to another state and elects to keep the same plans. | Coverage begins:
Because the plans don't change, coverage still begins on the same
dates. |
Federico moves to another state and selects new medical and dental plans
with the same waiting periods. | Coverage begins:
Workday enforces the new waiting periods, but because the new periods are
identical to the old, the begin dates remain the same. |
Federico receives a promotion and selects new medical and dental plans.
They’ve 2 and 3 month waiting periods, respectively. | Coverage begins:
Workday enforces the new waiting periods, but credits Federico for time
spent waiting under the old plans. |
Federico receives a demotion and selects new medical and dental plans.
They’ve 4 and 5 month waiting periods, respectively. | Coverage begins:
Workday enforces the new waiting periods, but credits Federico for time
spent waiting for the old plans to take effect. |
Federico moves to a new benefit group and selects new medical and dental
plans with 1 and 2 month waiting periods, respectively. | Coverage begins:
Workday enforces the new waiting periods, but credits Federico for time
spent waiting for the old plans to take effect. In this case, the waiting
period for the new medical plan (1 month) is over by the time the second
enrollment event takes place (April 15). Therefore, Workday begins medical
coverage on April 15. |