# Configure benefits

## Why benefits configuration matters

Employees and candidates often undervalue their total compensation because they only think about base salary. Benefits like health insurance, retirement contributions, and other perks can represent 20–40% of total compensation value, but they remain invisible in traditional comp conversations.

Showing benefits in Total Rewards and Visual Offer Letter helps you:

* **Drive appreciation**: Employees see the full investment you make in their wellbeing, not just their paycheck

* **Support retention**: When employees understand their complete compensation picture, they're less likely to be swayed by offers that only quote higher base salary

* **Improve offer acceptance**: Candidates can compare your total package to other offers, making your competitiveness clearer

* **Enable better conversations**: Managers can discuss total rewards holistically rather than focusing solely on cash compensation

Pave gives you two ways to show benefits, each designed for different organizational needs.

## Choosing your benefits approach

### Benefits groups: Control and standardization

Benefits groups let you define standardized benefit packages that automatically apply to employee segments. This approach works when:

* Your benefits are consistent within groups (all California employees get the same medical plan value)

* You want complete control over what employees see and how it's described

* Your HRIS doesn't track individual benefit costs, only plan enrollment

* You need to show estimated benefit values to candidates before they enroll

**Use case example**: Your company offers three medical plan options. California full-time employees choose from plans valued at $15,000, $18,000, or $20,000 per year. Rather than showing individual enrollment data, you create a single benefit card showing the mid-range value ($18,000) for all California full-time employees. This gives candidates and employees a clear picture of medical benefit value without requiring individual enrollment data.

### Personalized benefits: Accuracy and automation

Personalized benefits sync actual benefit enrollment and contribution data from your HRIS to show each employee's precise benefit costs. This approach works when:

* Your HRIS tracks employer and employee contributions for each individual

* Benefit values vary significantly by employee (family coverage vs. individual coverage)

* You want benefit data to update automatically as enrollments change

* You need to show exact contribution amounts for transparency or compliance

**Use case example**: Employees choose different coverage levels (employee-only, employee + spouse, or family) with different employer contribution amounts. Your HRIS tracks each employee's coverage choice and both employer and employee contributions. Syncing personalized benefits shows each employee their exact benefit value based on their enrollment, updating automatically when they change coverage during open enrollment.

### Using both approaches together

You can combine benefits groups and personalized benefits to balance control and accuracy. When an employee has both a benefit group card and personalized benefit data for the same benefit type:

* **UI elements come from benefits groups**: The benefit name, icon, and description you configured appear on the card, maintaining your messaging

* **Financial data comes from HRIS**: The employer contribution amount from personalized benefits overrides any manually configured value, ensuring accuracy

* **Details appear for authorized viewers**: Employee and employer contribution breakdowns, coverage level, and plan names from your HRIS appear to the employee and authorized admins

**Use case example**: You create a 401(k) benefit group to control the benefit card name ("Retirement Savings") and description ("We match up to 4% of your salary"). For employees enrolled in the 401(k), personalized benefits sync from your HRIS showing their actual employer match amount, which varies by employee based on their individual contribution rate. Employees see your branded card with their specific match amount. Employees not yet enrolled see the benefit group card with your standard description but no personalized amount.

## Configure benefits groups

Benefits groups give you control over how benefit value appears in Total Rewards. You define the benefit (Medical, 401(k), etc.), set the value and description, then specify which employees see it using filters. This approach lets you maintain consistent messaging while accommodating regional or role-based benefit differences.

**Why this structure works**: Benefits often follow group-level patterns. Your California employees might all receive medical coverage valued at $15,000 while employees in other states receive coverage valued at $12,000. Rather than managing hundreds of individual records, you create two benefit cards that automatically apply based on employee location. When you update the benefit value or description, the change applies to all matching employees immediately.

### Create a benefit

1. Navigate to Settings > Communicate > Benefits
2. Select Create benefit
3. Choose a benefit type (Medical, Dental, Vision, 401k, or other standard benefit types)
4. Enter a benefit name. This name appears on the benefit card in Total Rewards and Visual Offer Letter.
5. Select an icon to represent the benefit
6. Select Save

### Add benefit cards

Each benefit can have multiple cards. A card represents a specific benefit value and the group of employees who should see it. For example, a Medical benefit might have one card for employees in California and another card for employees in other states.

To add a card to a benefit:

1. Open the benefit you want to edit
2. Select Add card
3. Enter a description. This appears below the benefit name on the card.
4. Enter the annual benefit value in your company currency
5. (Optional) Toggle Show value to control whether the dollar amount appears on the card. When disabled, the card shows the benefit name and description without a value.
6. Select which user groups should see this card (see "Create user groups" below)
7. Select Save

A single benefit card can apply to multiple user groups. If an employee matches multiple user groups assigned to the same benefit type, they see all matching benefit cards.

### Create user groups

User groups define which employees see specific benefit cards based on filters. Create groups before assigning them to cards.

To create a user group:

1. Navigate to Settings > Communicate > Benefits > User Groups
2. Select Create user group
3. Enter a group name and description. The name appears in the benefits configuration UI but not in the employee-facing portal.
4. Add filters to define group membership:

   * Select whether this group applies to employees, candidates, or both

   * Add one or more filters based on HRIS fields (location, department, job level, employment status, or any other field synced from your integration). See your [Integration field mapping](#) for available fields.

   * Use AND/OR logic to combine filters. Filters within the same row use AND logic. Multiple rows use OR logic.
5. Select Save

### Showing benefits to everyone

**Why you might do this**: Some benefits apply universally to everyone at your company regardless of location, role, or employment status. Rather than creating user groups that duplicate your entire employee base, you can leave the user groups field empty to show the benefit to everyone.

**How it works**: Benefit cards with no user groups assigned appear for all employees and candidates. If an employee matches user groups for some benefit cards and also has cards with no user groups assigned, they see all applicable cards.

**Use case example**: Your company provides a $1,000 annual learning and development stipend to all employees. Rather than creating user groups for "all full-time employees" and "all part-time employees" and "all contractors," you create a single L\&D benefit card with no user groups. Every employee sees it automatically.

## Configure personalized benefits

Personalized benefits provide accuracy and automation by syncing actual benefit enrollment and contribution data directly from your HRIS. This approach is valuable when individual benefit values vary significantly or when you need precise financial data for each employee.

**Why automation matters**: Benefit enrollments change throughout the year during open enrollment, qualifying life events, or new hire onboarding. Manually updating hundreds or thousands of employee benefit records is error-prone and time-consuming. When your HRIS already tracks this data, syncing it ensures employees always see current, accurate information without manual intervention.

**Why accuracy matters**: Showing generic benefit values might undervalue or overvalue an individual's actual benefits. An employee with family medical coverage might receive $24,000 in employer contributions while a colleague with individual coverage receives $8,000. Personalized benefits show each employee their specific value, making total compensation discussions more meaningful.

### Enable personalized benefits

Personalized benefits require:

1. An active HRIS integration that syncs benefit data
2. Benefit enrollment data in your HRIS for the employees you want to display

When benefit data exists in your HRIS for an employee, Pave automatically displays it in their Total Rewards portal. No additional configuration is required in Pave settings. Benefits sync on your regular HRIS integration schedule

### What personalized benefits include

Personalized benefits from HRIS integrations include:

* Benefit type (medical, dental, vision, 401k, life insurance, disability, and other types supported by your HRIS)

* Employer contribution amount

* Employee contribution amount (if applicable)

* Coverage level (employee only, employee + spouse, employee + family)

* Plan name

* Coverage description

* User group (if assigned in HRIS)

Note: Field values have a 255 character limit. Text exceeding this limit will be truncated.

### Privacy and permissions

**Why privacy matters for benefits**: Personalized benefit data reveals sensitive employee choices (coverage level can indicate family status) and financial details (contribution amounts can vary significantly). Unlike standardized benefit group values, personalized benefits are individual-specific and require access controls.

**How Pave protects benefit details**: The system enforces role-based access:

* **Employees**: See full details of their own personalized benefits (contribution amounts, coverage level, plan names)

* **Company admins**: See full details of all employee benefits to support benefits administration and total compensation analysis

* **Managers**: See benefit totals only when manager visibility is enabled in your Total Rewards settings. Managers cannot see individual contribution amounts, coverage levels, or plan details unless viewing their own record or they have company admin permissions

**The value of this model**: Managers get the total compensation context they need for meaningful performance and retention conversations (total comp including benefits) without accessing sensitive individual health or enrollment choices. Employees can confidently view their Total Rewards knowing their personal benefit details remain private.

## Benefits groups vs. personalized benefits

| Feature                                            | Benefits groups                          | Personalized benefits     |
| -------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------- | ------------------------- |
| Data source                                        | Manually configured in Pave              | Synced from HRIS          |
| Granularity                                        | Group-level (same value for all members) | Individual employee level |
| Requires benefit values to be accessible from HRIS | No                                       | Yes                       |
| Value control                                      | Manual entry                             | Automatic from HRIS       |

## When employees see both types

**Why merging matters**: You might want to control the benefit card presentation (using a friendly name like "Health Coverage" instead of a plan code) while still showing accurate individual values. Without merging, employees would see two separate Medical benefit cards: one with your curated description and one with HRIS data. Merging gives you the best of both approaches.

**How the merge works**: When an employee has both a benefit card from a benefits group and personalized benefit data from your HRIS for the same benefit type (for example, Medical), Pave creates a single benefit card:

* **Presentation elements come from benefits groups**: The benefit card displays the name, icon, and description you configured in benefits groups, maintaining your preferred messaging and branding

* **Financial values come from HRIS**: The employer contribution amount from your HRIS overrides any manually configured value in the benefit group, ensuring employees see their actual benefit cost

* **Detailed data enriches the card**: Additional HRIS data (employee contribution, coverage level, plan name) appears in the card details for employees viewing their own record and authorized admins

**Use case example**: You create a Medical benefit group with the name "Health Coverage," a heart icon, and a description explaining your commitment to employee wellbeing. You set a placeholder value of $15,000. For employees enrolled in medical benefits, their HRIS data syncs showing their actual employer contribution ($8,000 for employee-only coverage or $24,000 for family coverage). Each employee sees a "Health Coverage" card with your description and their specific employer contribution amount. Employees not yet enrolled (like new candidates or employees who declined coverage) see the $15,000 placeholder value.

## What employees see

**Why the employee experience matters**: Benefits data is only valuable if employees understand and engage with it. Clear, visual benefit cards make abstract benefit concepts concrete. Instead of hearing "we have great benefits," employees see specific dollar amounts that quantify your investment.

**The employee view**: Benefits appear as cards in the compensation breakdown section of Total Rewards and Visual Offer Letter. Each card shows:

* Benefit icon and name (making benefits scannable and recognizable)

* Description (for benefits groups) or plan name (for personalized benefits)

* Annual value (if configured to display) in the employee's preferred currency

**Total compensation context**: The total benefits value appears in the compensation summary at the top of the page and counts toward total compensation calculations. This ensures employees and candidates see benefits as part of their complete package, not an afterthought.

**Access to details**: Employees can click a benefit card to see additional details. For personalized benefits, this includes employer and employee contribution amounts, coverage level, and plan information (visible only to the employee viewing their own record or users with appropriate admin permissions). This transparency helps employees understand the full scope of their coverage.

## Reordering benefits

**Why order matters**: The sequence of benefit cards influences how employees perceive their total compensation. Leading with high-value benefits (medical, retirement) emphasizes your largest investments. Grouping related benefits together (all insurance types, all perks) creates a clearer narrative about your benefits philosophy.

**How to reorder**: Benefits appear in the order you configure in Settings > Communicate > Benefits.

1. Navigate to Settings > Communicate > Benefits
2. Drag benefits into your preferred order using the handle icon on the left side of each row
3. The new order saves automatically and appears immediately in employee-facing portals

All benefit cards (both benefits groups and personalized benefits) follow this global benefit order. You cannot set different orders for different employee groups.

## FAQs

### Can I hide benefits from certain employees?

Yes. For benefits groups, assign cards only to the user groups that should see them. For personalized benefits, employees only see benefits when data exists in their HRIS record. If you want to hide a benefit entirely from all employees, delete all cards associated with that benefit (for benefits groups) or remove the benefit data from your HRIS integration (for personalized benefits).

### What happens if my HRIS benefit data changes?

Personalized benefits sync with your regular HRIS integration schedule. When benefit values change in your HRIS, they update in Pave on the next sync. Benefit cards from benefits groups do not update automatically — you must edit the card manually to change the value.

### Can I show different benefit values for employees and candidates?

Yes. When creating user groups, you can filter by user type (employee or candidate) to create separate groups. Assign different benefit cards to each group to show different values.

### Do benefits count toward total compensation calculations?

Yes. All benefits (both benefits groups and personalized benefits) are included in total compensation calculations shown in Total Rewards and Visual Offer Letter. The total benefits value appears as a single line item in the compensation summary.

### Can I customize the benefits that sync from my HRIS?

Field mapping for personalized benefits is configured during your HRIS integration setup. To change which benefit types sync or how they map to Pave benefit categories, contact your Customer Success Engineer. Benefit types, plan names, and contribution amounts come directly from your HRIS and cannot be edited in Pave.


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