Overview
A Fortune 500 provider of business equipment offered an extensive range of benefits to their 33,000 employees. While benefits such as health insurance and the 401(k) program were popular and widely used by employees, not all benefits were as well understood and readily adopted.

Problem
The commuter and flexible spending account benefits had been a low-priority for the company. They received little attention from human resources, and as a result the programs were loosely managed and had extremely low employee participation rates. Of 33,000 employees, only 250 used the existing transportation voucher program. Less than 10 percent of employees used flexible spending accounts.

The manager of the work/life programs saw opportunity to turn these little-used benefits into important, money-saving programs for employees. In order to do this, the company needed pre-tax benefits that would be easy for employees to understand and use. In addition, the human resources department sought to streamline administration and reduce the time they spent managing the programs.

Solution
The company began by implementing WageWorks Commuter Program, offering public transportation, parking and vanpool options to all of their 33,000 employees nationwide. Participation quickly doubled.

WageWorks' easy-to-use, automated solution was so successful and popular with employees that the company decided to replace their existing flexible spending program with WageWorks Health Care and Dependent Care Accounts. The new program offered the option of online or offline account access, a Health Care Card for convenient health-related purchases, and compelling program materials.

Results
WageWorks' employee-friendly pre-tax programs generated increased employee interest in these previously little-used benefits. Participation in both programs doubled, increasing tax savings for employees and increasing FICA savings for the company. With the automated WageWorks system, the company was able to offer better benefits while streamlining administration.