Sending OE Deductions to Your Payroll Partner
Compared to a standard OE without integrated payroll, there are just two extra steps that need to happen before closeout:
Ending Plans
Codes
Deductions Date'
Payroll codes are the "keys" that tell payroll exactly which benefit to update. EN reads these codes from your payroll system and uses them to insert, change, or stop deductions or employer contributions automatically. A few things to keep in mind:
- New benefit this year? HR must create the deduction code in payroll before you can map it in EN.
- Each benefit type needs its own unique code (e.g., Accident and Cancer cannot share a code).
- Multiple company IDs? The code must exist in every company in your payroll system.
How do I find these codes?
The process depends on your payroll partner. Pick yours below to see the exact steps.
Who's your payroll partner?
API partners pull your codes automatically with one click. Manual partners require HR to share their payroll code list — you'll re-key the codes into EN.
EN pulls all active codes straight from your payroll system into a dropdown and flags any invalid previously-mapped codes. Follow these steps:
- Go to the Payroll tab
- Open your Payroll Group
- Click Vendor Payroll Codes → Refresh Codes
- Map each new plan to the appropriate refreshed code
Need a deeper walkthrough? See How to map and edit your Deduction Codes →
There's no automatic pull for this partner — HR has to provide the codes from their payroll system, then you'll re-enter them into each applicable Payroll Group in EN.
- Ask HR to generate their payroll system's deduction code report
- Confirm the codes with HR using the two questions below
- Re-enter confirmed codes into each applicable Payroll Group in EN
- Map each new plan to the corresponding code
⚠ All codes must be mapped before OE can be closed.
"Are the deduction codes for benefits from the previous plan year remaining the same?"
↳ If Yes: Re-key those same codes for their newly effective plans. If No: Ask them to send the updated codes they've created in payroll.
"What are the deduction codes for any new benefit offerings this year?"
↳ Map those into their new, corresponding benefit types in EN.
This is the date Employee Navigator will automatically transmit all new, changing, or ending deductions to payroll in bulk. The date must satisfy all four rules below:
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"Hi! Three quick questions about your first payroll of the new plan year:
- What's your first pay date of the new plan year where you're expecting to see these changes in payroll?
- When will you process payroll for that check?
- What's the pay period range for that check (start and end)?"
Then choose a Send Date that falls within the pay period range and before the process date. That's it.
| Question to ask HR | HR's Answer |
|---|---|
| First pay date of the new plan year? | 7/10 |
| When will you process payroll for that check? | 7/7 |
| What is the pay period range of that check? | 6/26 – 7/10 |
| ✅ Recommended Send Deductions Date | 7/2 — falls within the 6/26–7/10 pay period range, and 5 days before the 7/7 process date |
Step through the OE experience with Integrated Payroll in one, simple demo
Click below to walk through it end-to-end: Find the Send Deductions Date field in EN within your OE, pick & save your Send Date, then watch EN bulk-send everything to payroll on that date and confirm it updated perfectly on your Integration Health Dashboard.
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In EN: Benefits tab → Open Enrollment → Payroll. The empty Send deductions to payroll on field is what you're looking for — it's highlighted below.
Edge cases & gotchas
Base your Send Date on the most upcoming pay date. If you have weekly (1/3) and semi-monthly (1/10) employees, choose a date that works for the 1/3 check. All frequencies will receive updated deductions from that single transmission.
For these vendors, deduction start dates will equal the Send Deductions Date itself when the send date falls after the new policy year — and not the plan effective date. Make sure that date falls within the pay period range of the first payroll of the new plan year.
For example: If you have a 1/3 send date associated with your 1/1 OE, then all deduction start dates will equal 1/3.
- New hires with effective dates matching the new policy year will not be able to enroll between your closeout date and the start of the new plan year.
- Any enrollment changes made outside of OE (new hires, life events) between the closeout date and the Send Deductions Date will be "held" until the Send Date to transmit to payroll.
Verifying That Payroll Amounts Were Successfully Sent
On your Send Date, EN transmits everything to payroll automatically — and the Integration Health Dashboard tells you exactly how it landed. Three buckets, color-coded, and you'll know within minutes.
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More details
On your Send Date, EN automatically transmits four types of changes to payroll in a single bulk push:
For brand-new enrollments
Updated rates for renewing employees
For anyone declining coverage
End old code + start new, automatically
If your payroll partner supports it, EN can also transmit employer-paid contributions in the same bulk push — no separate setup needed. This is what we can send:
- Employer's share of Medical — supports your year-end W-2 reporting
- Other employer contributions — when applicable, to drive accurate year-end W-2 reporting
Not sure if your partner accepts employer amounts? Check your partner's integration spec or reach out to support.
FAQs
You can send deductions earlier by adjusting your closeout date:
- Open Enrollment → Advanced Options → Adjust Closeout Date to one day prior to your desired Send Date → Save
- Go to the Payroll section of the OE → select your Send Deductions Date
- To send immediately: Advanced Options → Close Now
- In the closed OE: click the pencil icon next to the Send Date → Send Now
No problem — you can edit the Send Date at any time after OE closes. In the OE dashboard, click the pencil icon next to the Send Date to choose a new date. If you need to send immediately, use the Send Now button.
Yes, with some manual steps. Employee Navigator cannot send deductions with start dates that fall before the plan effective date — so HR will need to manually adjust the start dates after they arrive in payroll.
- Close OE on 9/26
- Set Send Deductions Date to 9/27
- Deductions arrive in payroll on 9/27 with start dates of 10/1
- HR manually adjusts the 10/1 dates to a date within the 9/29 pay period range
Yes! You can schedule a future-effective Payroll Group change that will be reflected during Open Enrollment so employees see costs based on their new pay frequency.
- Go to an employee's Profile → Payroll Group → save the new group → select a change effective date up to 30 days in the future
- This must be done before the employee's enrollment window opens for costs to display correctly
- Currently, this cannot be done via import — it must be scheduled manually per employee
If the group size is too large to complete this manually for each employee:
- Ensure that your staff is aware of these upcoming pay frequency changes and knows that their per pay costs will change as of the new plan year.
- Create the new Payroll Group and map all applicable deduction codes.
- On the exact coverage effective date of your new plan year, import the Payroll Group changes for employees into the newly created group from Step 2.
- This will auto-send all deductions to payroll for these employees based on their new frequency.
No. At this time, only one Send Deductions Date can be selected per Open Enrollment, and it applies to all employees.
Yes. Employee Navigator will automatically send an end date to payroll to stop the existing deduction for any employee who had coverage in the prior year and declined for the new plan year.
Yes. After OE closeout, generate the OE Scheduled Deductions Report:
This report shows everything queued for the Send Deductions Date.
Yes. On your Send Deductions Date, Employee Navigator will write an end date for the original code(s) and a new start date for the newly mapped codes — automatically.
Yes! The Demographic and/or Deduction Audit can be completed while an OE window is active. While OE is active, the Deduction Audit reflects current plan year amounts only.
What If I Have 3rd Party Plans Through Colonial?
If your group syncs Colonial Life plans through Harmony, be mindful of syncing during an active Open Enrollment. Sync files update current active coverage outside of the disparity window — so if an employee has existing coverage and makes future-dated changes during OE, a sync completed while OE is still active may override current active data with the new future data, causing deductions to send to payroll earlier than intended.
Refer to the Colonial Life app sync article for full guidance on managing OE syncs safely.
Unique Scenario: Back-to-Back Open Enrollments
If a group has two overlapping OEs (e.g., one in December and one in January), the system follows one important rule:
OE #1 — Plan Year 12/1
- Closeout date: 11/15
- Send Deductions Date: 12/2
OE #2 — Plan Year 1/1
- Closeout date: 12/1 ← closes before OE #1's Send Date
- Send Deductions Date: 1/2
OE #1 — Plan Year 12/1
- Closeout date: 11/15
- Send Deductions Date: 12/2
OE #2 — Plan Year 1/1
- Closeout date: 12/3 ← closes after OE #1's Send Date
- Send Deductions Date: 1/2
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