Unum HR Connect® lets Zscaler scale up benefits through automation

In the past few years, Zscaler nearly quadrupled its roster, making it no longer feasible to manually manage its benefits. They were looking for an automated solution that could keep pace with their growing company. With Unum HR Connect, coverage information is automatically synced between Unum and Zscaler’s ADP Workforce Now^® all-in-one HR suite. Bills are generated based on up-to-date employee records within ADP Workforce Now ensuring they’re correct month after month.

2016 to 2020 were big years for Zscaler. As the company cemented its reputation in the cloud security field, its employee roster almost quadrupled. As Zscaler staffed up, the HR team realized it needed to scale up its systems, too, including the way it managed benefits. When it heard how HR Connect could automate benefit processes like billing and EOI, Zscaler decided it would change its life and disability insurance provider to Unum.

According to Allison Doughty, Zscaler’s Global Benefits Manager, billing was “a bit of a nightmare” with the company’s former carrier. Manually reconciling bills every month took three hours or more across multiple teams, which was “not the best use of our time and did not add value to our employees. It was a huge time sink.”

With HR Connect, coverage information is automatically synced between Unum and Zscaler’s ADP Workforce Now® HR information system. Bills are generated based on up-to-date employee records within the system of record, ensuring they’re correct month after month. With Unum, Zscaler’s team spends only around 15 minutes per month reviewing and paying its benefits invoice. “I would not go back to a vendor that does not have this turnkey billing,” said Doughty. “I can’t imagine going backwards to that.”

Doughty said enrollment and EOI are also a big improvement thanks to Unum HR Connect. Employees can now complete both processes right in the ADP Workforce Now system, saving them time and trouble while minimizing requests to Zscaler’s HR team.

“It was a lot easier for employees to have the EOI form online,” she said. “Before, we had to do an audit to make sure we had sent paper forms to all employees who needed them. Coverage requests would sometimes be pending for months — even up to the next open enrollment.”

Doughty said her team spent a lot of time chasing down employees to confirm whether they really wanted a benefit. Another time-consuming EOI process involved getting email notifications from the provider about coverage approvals, and then updating that information inside ADP Workforce Now.

“It was much more manual,” Doughty said. “Now employees get real-time answers and we see the approvals pretty easily right in ADP.”

Previously, setting up a new file feed to transfer information from ADP Workforce Now to an insurance provider could take about a month for Doughty and her team. Unum HR Connect eliminated these file feeds by syncing information directly in real time.

“Automation is really huge for us,” she said, “even if it seems simple. Just knowing that I’m saving even a few hours a month to focus on more important priorities is so important, especially since we are a very small benefits team.”

“We also want our systems to reflect that we are a tech company,” she added. “HR Connect certainly helps with that. Other providers could take a note from Unum’s book.”