Create a Benefit Plan in Benefits Tracking

This guide outlines the process for adding and setting up employee benefit plans within a company. It includes sections on plan details, coverage options, eligibility, costs, and payroll deductions. Users can utilize BambooHR's Benefits Administration add-on to streamline enrollment. The article provides instructions for creating new plans, defining eligibility criteria, and determining cost-sharing between the company and employees. Additional notes highlight the differences in setup for various benefit types, including health savings accounts and reimbursement plans. Users are encouraged to refer to interactive guides for hands-on learning. The guide emphasizes the importance of accurate data management and compliance with eligibility requirements.

  • Jul 8, 2026
  • Knowledge

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Create a Benefit Plan in Benefits Tracking
Article Text
This feature is included in the Core, Pro, and Elite packages.

This guide explains how to add and set up benefit plans that your company offers to employees.

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Table of Contents

Looking to simplify your benefits process? BambooHR offers a benefits administration add-on that helps you manage enrollment from start to finish. With BambooHR® Benefits Administration, you can:

  • Set up open enrollment windows for employees
  • Allow employees to select benefit plans
  • Review and approve enrollments
  • Export or sync enrollment data with carriers, depending on your setup

Explore BambooHR® Benefits Administration to see how it can support your team. 

Prefer hands-on learning? BambooHR provides interactive guides that walk you through different features of your account. There is a specific interactive guide designed to show how to start adding benefit plans. To access the guide, follow these steps:

  1. Replace REPLACEME with your BambooHR subdomain in the URL below.
  2. Paste the updated link into your browser.

https://REPLACEME.bamboohr.com/home?pendo=UOKFLgF5xzjYG6ghVQf8QzUFAx4&step=dUqDpwZfIu12ker5P0HLPGwzhI4

Benefits

Benefit plans represent the benefits your company offers to employees. Depending on the benefit plan type, the setup includes in the following:

  • Eligibility rules
  • Coverage options
  • Contribution amounts

To begin, click +Create New Plan, then select the benefit plan type to which you would like to add a plan.

Note: If you are using BambooHR® Benefits Administration or BambooHR® Payroll, the plan setup experience may differ slightly. Review the following guides for details: 

Plan Details
Add Medical Plan

The benefit plan type you select determines which setup options appear. The example shown above is for a medical plan, but the same structure applies to dental, vision, and supplemental health plans.

FieldHow It Works
Plan NameType the name of the benefit plan. Each plan must have an unique name, meaning you cannot use the same name across multiple plans, including existing and deleted benefit plans. This helps you distinguish plans in the Benefit History table on the employee profile. A common approach is to include the effective year in the plan name (e.g., Medical Plan 2026).
DescriptionAdd a short description of the plan. This field is optional and can help clarify coverage details or plan differences.
Plan URLAdd a URL that links to additional plan information for employees.
Plan Starts & Plan EndsThese dates determine when plan coverage begins and when it expires. After you finalize the plan's settings, the start date cannot be edited if it has already passed of if any payroll deductions have occurred.
RateChoose whether the plan uses a standard rate or a variable rate. Some benefit plan types do not show cost setup in the Eligibility and Cost step because the employee's coverage selection determines costs. If at least one employee enrolled in the plan, this field becomes locked and cannot be edited.
ACA ComplianceThis section appears only for health plans when ACA tracking is enabled. You can use it to indicate whether the plan meets minimum value and minimum essential requirements set by the U.S. government.

After completing this section, click Next: Coverage Options.

Coverage Options
Add Medical Plan

Coverage options define who can be covered under the benefit plan. Coverage options are availble only for the following benefit plan types:

  • Medical
  • Dental
  • Vision
  • Supplemental health

All other benefit types apply only at the employee level and do not include additional coverage options. For those plans, coverage distinctions can be indicated directly in the plan name (e.g., Employee Life Insurance or Spouse Life Insurance).

Custom coverages are specific to an individual benefit plan. Here's how to add one: 

  1. Click + Add a new coverage option.
  2. Enter the coverage option name.
  3. Click Save.

After selecting coverage options, click Next: Eligibility and Cost.

Eligibility and Cost
Add Medical Plan

This step defines who is eligible for the plan and how costs are shared. 

FieldsHow It Works
Which employees are eligible?

Select the employment statuses that qualify for the benefit plan. You can refine eligibility using standard filters and pay type.

Once a benefit plan is saved, certain settings, including eligibility filters, cannot be changed. This is because plan settings directly impact enrollments, reporting, and if applicable, carrier connections. To maintain data accuracy, changes to locked settings require creating a new plan or duplicating an existing plan.

When do new employees become eligible?

Eligibility can begin under the following conditions:

  • When it is marked manually: Eligibility must be updated manually on the employee profile.
  • Immediately upon hire: Eligibility starts on the employee's hire date.
  • After a waiting period: Eligibility begins immediately after a defined waiting period (days, weeks, months, or years).
  • First of the month following a waiting period: Eligibility begins on the first day of the month after the waiting period.
When do terminated employees lose eligibility?

This setting is based on the employee's Employment Status field and includes the following options:

  • On a manually entered date: Coverage remains active until a date is manually entered on the employee's Benefits tab by clicking the gear icon for the plan and terminating coverage
  • Day following termination: Coverage ends one day after termination.
  • First of the month following termination: Coverage ends on the first day of the month after termination. 
How much will they pay?Enter the total monthly cost and the employee's portion for each coverage option. The system automatically calculates the company's share. In the Employee Pays column, enter either a dollar amount ($) or a percentage (%) of the total monthly cost. To change currency, click USD next to the total cost. Each benefit plan supports only one currency.
Adding more eligibility groupsIf your company has different employee groups that require different eligibility rules or cost splits, click +Add Eligibility Group and configure the new group using the fields described in this table. Groups are mutually exclusive, meaning that Group B must have the same filter criteria as Group A. The only exception is when Group B uses the same filters as Group A but is more specific through additional filters.

After completing this step, click Next: Payroll Deduction.

Note: For variable rate plans, costs may vary by employee (e.g., based on age). You can add these costs individually on employee profiles or through bulk enrollment.

Payroll Deduction
Add Medical Plan

Determine whether the benefit deduction happens every paycheck. Deductions commonly happen every paycheck, but you can adjust the deduction frequency based on your company's pay schedules.* 

Once confirmed, click Finish & Save Plan. 

*Once a deduction is approved in payroll for a specific benefit plan, Payroll deduction fields can no longer be edited in the benefit plan setup. To change deduction frequency, you must end the current plan and create a new one to preserve historical data.

BambooHR does not collect and remit payments for third-party vendors for benefit plans.

Additional benefit plan types

  • HSA, FSA, retirement, life insurance, disability, and other plans: These plans use a simpler setup and show employee contribution amounts based on pay frequency. Contribution amounts must be added when you enroll an employee in the plan. For example, the employee contributes $300 per pay period (bi-weekly, semi-monthly, etc.) to their health savings plan.
  • Reimbursement plans: These plans require a fixed reimbursement amount and display a set reimbursement frequency (e.g., a $500 monthly car stipend).
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