Map your payroll codes to each benefit type to tell Employee Navigator where to send per pay costs for your employees.
Payroll codes tell Employee Navigator where each plan’s per pay cost needs to go in payroll. You map them once during setup, and once during your next Open Enrollment.
How codes get into Employee Navigator depends on your payroll partner.
Automated partners send your codes over with one click. For every other partner, HR pulls a code list from payroll and you type the codes in. Either way, the codes have to exist in payroll first.
Your codes come over from payroll
Employee Navigator pulls your codes straight from your payroll system. Click Refresh Codes any time HR adds a code in payroll, then pick each code from a list.
You type the codes in from HR’s list
- HR runs the payroll code report in their payroll system. Each partner’s steps are on its page in the Integration Hub.
- In Employee Navigator, go to the Payroll tab, then Payroll Codes, then your payroll group.
- Click ✎ on each plan, type the code into the Pre-tax or Post-tax Deduction Code field, and Save.
Map every plan in a payroll group, one plan at a time.
Codes are mapped per payroll group. Once you've mapped them into one, use the 'Copy From' feature to copy your codes into all other groups. Pick your partner in the section above.
The detail behind the demo: plans to block, mapping rules, the three toggles, tax placement, and examples.
What to check before you click Save on any plan.
All three are off by default, and off is right for most plans. Turn one on only when it fits your situation.
Taxability is set in payroll, but which column you map a code into matters in some cases. Find yours below.
- Post-tax only: map it to Post-tax Deduction Code
- Pre-tax only: map it to Pre-tax Deduction Code
- Both allowed: map both codes, each to its own column
If they’re 2% shareholders, or direct lineal descendants of one: open the employee’s Profile, then Employment, then Statutory Class, choose 2% Shareholder and Save. Employee Navigator then uses only the post-tax codes mapped in their payroll group for that employee.
If they aren’t 2% shareholders: create a second payroll group with the same frequency, map the post-tax codes there (plus any pre-tax codes for plans withheld pre-tax for everyone), then move these employees into the new payroll group.
Most plans need just one code.
With every toggle off, one code covers the whole plan, and that handles most plans. Open an example if you have tier-specific codes, an HSA, or a 3rd Party App plan.
One code, like MED, carries the full cost: employee, spouse and dependents together. Leave Split codes by Coverage Level off, map the code in the right column, and you’re done. Use it for most medical, dental and vision plans, FSAs, and any plan payroll treats as one line.
Each code carries one coverage tier’s cost. Turn the toggle on and the Apply Codes table grows to one row per tier, so you can map each tier on its own.
On HSA plans the toggle reads Split codes by Limit Level. Turn it on to set up to four codes: Single, Family, Single Catch-up and Family Catch-up. If you don’t use a tier, reuse the same code in that row.
The carrier is the system of record: effective dates, benefit amounts and premiums all come from the carrier into Employee Navigator, which passes the mapped code and cost to payroll.
- Split codes by coverage level isn’t available, because coverage is set automatically from the 3rd Party App tie-in.
- Each 3rd Party App plan needs its own code. Accident and Critical Illness can’t share a code.
Only change a code to fix a mistake. Every change goes straight to payroll.
After go-live, a code change goes straight to payroll.
Brokers and HR can change codes at any time. Here’s what happens before and after you go live.
- Edit codes, toggles and coverage or limit level splits freely.
- No confirmation appears and nothing is sent to payroll.
- Go back into your Deduction Audit afterward to keep resolving differences.
- Change a code and click Save, and a confirmation appears.
- When you Confirm, every affected deduction is re-sent to payroll right away with the new code.
- If you replaced a valid code, HR ends the old code in payroll by hand.
Quick answers about payroll codes
No. Each benefit type needs its own code so Employee Navigator can start, change or stop each deduction on its own. Accident and Critical Illness can’t share a code, Group Life and Voluntary Life need separate codes, and so does every 3rd Party App plan.
Plans of the same type can share one. Two medical plans, like a PPO and an HDHP, can both use your medical code, the way both plans use MED in the demo.
No, the field is optional, so leave it blank. To keep a code in Employee Navigator for reporting only, enter it and turn on Block Employer Contributions. The code is saved but never sent.
Yes. When you click Save, Employee Navigator asks you to confirm, then re-sends every affected deduction to payroll with the new code right away. If you replaced one valid code with another, HR needs to end the old code in payroll by hand. See Editing codes once you’re live.
It’s the yellow banner telling you one or more active plans in that payroll group still need codes. It goes away once every plan has its required codes. Click How do I fix this? on the banner to jump to the plans that need attention.
Ask the AI Assistant inside Employee Navigator.
Log into EN and look for the AI Assistant pill in the bottom-right corner of any page — it's proven to answer 90% of questions instantly, versus waiting on a Support reply.
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