Follow our 2025 OE Guide to see how county and municipal governments can take the stress out of open enrollment and set themselves up for success.
For HR teams in local government, Open Enrollment (OE) isn’t just a seasonal task—it’s a high-stakes balancing act. Between tight deadlines, complex union contracts, retiree populations, and multiple plan types, it can feel like every OE cycle comes with new hurdles and higher expectations.
And while private-sector employers may have more flexibility or larger budgets, public sector HR departments are often managing the same workload with fewer people, legacy systems, and rigid budget constraints. But it doesn’t have to be this difficult.
This guide will walk through practical strategies for demystifying OE and how county and municipal governments can use the right tools and timing to make OE smoother, more strategic, and less stressful in 2025.
Why Open Enrollment Feels So Hard in Local Government
OE is a challenge everywhere, but local government HR teams face unique obstacles:
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Multiple plan types and bargaining units to account for during enrollment
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Active and retiree populations with distinct needs and coverage rules
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Limited staffing to support a high volume of transactions in a short time
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Disconnected systems that create manual work and errors
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Compliance pressure to ensure accuracy and audit readiness
In fact, according to the 2025 SHRM State of the Workplace report, only 43% of HR professionals rate their organization’s HR technology as effective, underscoring the critical need for modernization in how benefits are administered and communicated during OE.
1. Start Early—Really Early
Many local government HR teams underestimate how long OE prep actually takes. It’s not just about updating plan rates and launching the portal. It’s about communicating with departments, validating eligibility, coordinating with finance and IT, and reviewing past issues to prevent repeat problems.
Starting early allows your team to:
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Audit your benefits data and fix discrepancies before enrollment begins
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Build stronger communication campaigns for different employee segments
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Coordinate with vendors well in advance to avoid last-minute surprises
🛠 Pro Tip: Conduct a mini post-mortem of last year’s OE with your team. What caused delays? Where did employees struggle? What frustrated HR? Let that guide your roadmap for this year.
2. Invest in Tech That Understands Government
Generic HR platforms don’t always cut it in the public sector. You need tools that understand government-specific complexities, like managing multiple bargaining units, integrating with legacy payroll systems, or handling retiree billing.
That’s why more counties and municipalities are adopting benefits administration platforms that are purpose-built for public sector workflows.
Platforms like Bentek help you:
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Automate eligibility rules for different employee classes
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Provide 24/7 self-service portals that reduce calls to HR
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Streamline payroll deductions to reduce audit headaches
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Track elections and documents in real time to stay compliant
🔎 According to Gartner, 81% of HR leaders explored new HR tech in the past 12 months, highlighting just how fast the shift toward smarter, more specialized systems is happening.
3. Build an Employee Experience, Not Just an OE Process
OE isn’t just a back-end exercise—it’s one of the few times a year when every employee interacts directly with their benefits. That’s a big opportunity to build trust, reinforce the value of their compensation package, and reduce post-enrollment confusion.
To do that, focus on:
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Clear communications tailored to different employee groups
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Mobile-friendly tools for employees who don’t sit at a desk
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Benefit education resources to help people make informed decisions
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Multilingual support for diverse workforces
💬 In a recent Colonial Life study, 61% of public sector employees say they do not actively seek information about their benefits, while 32% said materials explaining benefits options are unclear. Improving how information is delivered can have a major impact on satisfaction and usage.
4. Don’t Forget the Follow-Through
OE success doesn’t end with employee elections. Ensuring that all data flows accurately into payroll, vendors, and reporting systems is key to avoiding costly errors.
Common pitfalls post-OE include:
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Mismatched payroll deductions
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Unsent dependent documentation
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Missed termination dates
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Lack of visibility into retiree billing
This is where technology can help automate handoffs, generate audit trails, and give HR teams the confidence that nothing is falling through the cracks.
📉 Organizations lose time and money every year due to payroll and benefits processing errors, and for cash-strapped counties and cities, those losses hurt even more.
Final Thoughts: A Smarter OE is Within Reach
OE doesn’t have to be a season of stress. With the right strategy, the right platform, and the right public-sector partner, you can transform your process from reactive and manual to strategic and streamlined.
At Bentek, we help counties and municipalities across the country simplify OE with solutions built for your workflows, your populations, and your compliance requirements. Whether it’s reducing manual tasks, simplifying retiree enrollment, or ensuring your data is audit-ready, we’re here to help.
👉 Want to see how it works? Request a demo and see how Bentek makes Open Enrollment easier for government HR teams.
