TL;DR: Low benefit utilization usually starts with two problems, poor awareness and too much friction. Recent research points to a familiar pattern: around 60% of employees miss or underuse benefits because they do not fully know what is available, while confusing enrollment steps make action harder. For C-suite, HR, and finance leaders, that means wasted spend, weaker employee experience, and less value from benefits already on the books.
Benefits work better when people can find them, understand them, and act on them without getting stuck. JA’s point of view is simple: benefits data and plan choices should be clear, useful, and built around people, not buried in spreadsheets or long plan grids.
Key Takeaways
- Low awareness remains the biggest reason employees miss value in their benefits.
- Complex enrollment adds friction, delays decisions, and drives poor choices.
- Digital platforms and benefits navigators make enrollment and ongoing access easier.
- Short surveys help employers find the real barriers, then fix them with precision.
What stops employees from using their benefits in the first place? #
Low benefit utilization is often mistaken for low interest. In most workplaces, that is not the full story.
Employees may want help with health care costs, family needs, mental health, or financial stress. Still, many never get to the point of using the support available. The gap usually comes from weak visibility, unclear language, too many options, cost concerns, and steps that feel harder than they should.
SHRM’s 2025 Employee Benefits Survey shows why this matters. Employers now offer a wider mix of programs than ever, with an average of 216 benefits reported, up sharply from 2023. More choice can help, but only if people know what each option does and how to use it.
Low benefit utilization is usually an access problem before it is a motivation problem.
That distinction matters for leadership. HR sees the questions pile up. Finance sees rising spend with uneven use. The C-suite sees a costly mismatch between good intent and weak employee uptake.
Low awareness is still the biggest barrier #
Many employees do not know which benefits they have, what those benefits cover, or when to use them. That is true for medical plans and common programs like FSAs, HSAs, telehealth, EAPs, and caregiving support. It is also true for Voluntary Benefits that often get less airtime after Open Enrollment ends.
Recent research keeps pointing in the same direction. Aon reported that benefits communication is often weak and disconnected, and only 38% of benefits teams focus on helping employees see the value of what is offered. That leaves a lot of room for confusion. Across the market, the pattern lines up with the broader finding that about 6 in 10 employees miss or underuse benefits because awareness is low.
Awareness problems show up in plain ways. Employees skip an EAP because they assume it is only for crisis care. They miss an HSA match because they do not understand eligibility. They pay out of pocket for telehealth because they never learned it was included. During spotlighting benefits value during enrollment, employers often find that people knew a benefit existed but did not understand why it mattered.
Complex enrollment turns good benefits into hard work #
Even strong benefits lose value when enrollment feels like paperwork with a deadline attached.
Common friction points include too many forms, hard-to-compare plan language, confusing payroll deductions, scattered vendor sites, and terms that make sense to brokers but not to employees. Open Enrollment can feel like trying to read a map in heavy rain. The information is there, but the next step is hard to see.
That overload shapes behavior. Some employees delay decisions until the last day. Others default into last year’s elections, even when their needs changed. Some skip optional benefits because the process takes too long or feels risky.
Cost anxiety adds another layer. When employees do not understand how a plan works, a higher Deductible or Payroll Deduction can look worse than it really is. The plan may still be a good fit, but the value is hidden behind jargon and too many clicks. Employers that improve benefits awareness strategies for remote workforce often see fewer last-minute questions and stronger follow-through.
How to make benefits easier to find, understand, and use #
Employers can raise benefit utilization without redesigning the entire plan. The first gains often come from simpler access and clearer communication.
JA has long pushed for benefits information that people can act on, not pages of hard-to-read comparisons. That same principle applies here. When workers get one clear place to review options, plain language to understand tradeoffs, and help when they need it, use tends to improve.
The goal is not more messages. The goal is fewer barriers across the full employee journey, from first exposure to actual use.
Use digital platforms to simplify enrollment and everyday access #
A strong digital platform gives employees one place to review plans, compare options, enroll, and come back later when life changes. That matters because benefits questions do not only happen in November. They come up after a new baby, a diagnosis, a move, or a change in income.
The best platforms reduce the mental load. They explain plan terms in plain English. They work on a phone. They send reminders before deadlines. They offer Decision Support that helps employees compare expected costs and likely use. Most of all, they cut down the number of screens, logins, and forms.
Every extra click is a chance to lose someone. Therefore, employers should ask simple questions about the user experience. Can an employee find a telehealth option in under a minute? Can they see who to contact for claims help? Can they review plan costs without opening five PDFs?
Digital access also supports year-round education. An up-to-date benefits hub, short videos, FAQs, and searchable plan details can reduce repeat confusion. Employers reviewing their open enrollment checklist essentials often find that better digital access solves problems that handbooks and email blasts never fixed.
Offer benefits navigators so employees are not left on their own #
Even the best platform will not answer every question.
People often need a guide, especially when a choice affects their family, health, or finances. Benefits navigators, advocacy teams, or guided digital support can help employees sort through terms, understand options, and take the right next step. That support should feel personal, responsive, and easy to reach.
This matters because confusion is not evenly spread. A first-time employee may need help choosing a plan. A parent may need help finding pediatric care or understanding dependent coverage. An employee dealing with a serious diagnosis may need someone who can explain bills, prior authorization, or where to get care.
JA’s people-first approach fits here. Good support ties strategy to the human side of the decision. A benefit is not a line item to the employee trying to cover a child’s prescription. It is a real-life cost, time, and stress question. When employers offer human guidance, they reduce fear and build trust.
Employees are more likely to use benefits when the next step is clear and a real person can help.
Use employee feedback to fix the right problems, not just the obvious ones #
Many employers guess at the barriers. That usually leads to broad fixes that miss the real issue.
A better approach starts with listening. JA’s strategy mindset is useful here: hear what people are saying, assess what is happening in the data, then act with purpose. Benefit utilization improves faster when employers know where workers get stuck and which groups need more support.
That level of detail matters. One location may struggle with low awareness. Another may have a vendor access issue. Salaried staff may prefer digital help, while hourly teams may respond better to text reminders and on-site support.
Short surveys can reveal where employees get stuck #
Long annual surveys often miss the moment. Short pulse surveys usually work better because they ask about recent behavior.
Useful questions are simple:
- Do you know which benefits are available to you today?
- Was enrollment easy to complete?
- What kept you from using care or support this year?
- Do you know where to go when you have a benefits question?
Those answers can be paired with utilization data, call volume, and enrollment patterns. If a plan has good value but weak participation, the issue may be communication. If employees start enrollment but do not finish, the issue may be process friction. If one group uses advocacy services far more than another, access or awareness may be uneven.
Employers that want a more detailed benchmark can use employee benefits benchmarking data to compare Plan Design, contribution strategy, and patterns across groups. That kind of knowledge helps leaders move from guesswork to measurable action.
Targeted solutions work better than one size fits all changes #
Once the barriers are clear, the fixes can be focused.
A new hire group may need clearer onboarding. Frontline workers may need mobile-first enrollment and text reminders. Parents may need stronger education around dependent care or telehealth. Employees near retirement may need help with HSA use, plan comparison, and supplemental coverage.
Targeted action also helps control cost. Instead of changing every message for every employee, employers can adjust the parts that cause the most friction. That might mean fewer enrollment steps, clearer definitions, better reminders, or extra support for groups with lower participation.
This is where measurable outcomes matter. Leaders should track changes in awareness, completion rates, support requests, and actual use after each fix. Better benefit utilization comes from many small improvements that match the workforce as it is, not as leadership assumes it is.
What better benefit utilization looks like for the business and the workforce #
When employees can use benefits with less effort, the value of the program becomes more visible. That helps people and the business at the same time.
For the workforce, simpler access builds confidence. For leadership, stronger use improves ROR because funded benefits start producing more value in daily life.
Employees feel more supported when benefits are easier to use #
Employees notice when benefits feel usable. They also notice when they need help and cannot find it.
Clearer access changes that experience. People are more likely to trust the employer’s investment when they can see the options, understand the purpose, and get help without a maze of forms. That trust matters for working parents, younger hires, caregivers, and employees under financial stress.
Support also reaches beyond work. When a family can use telehealth quickly, find mental health support, or understand how to lower out-of-pocket costs, the employer’s benefit spend becomes real in a way a plan brochure never can.
Leaders get more value from the benefits they already fund #
Low benefit utilization creates hidden waste. Employers may pay for programs that employees barely touch, or they may keep hearing that benefits are weak when the real problem is access and understanding.
Stronger use improves program value. HR teams spend less time on preventable confusion. Finance gets clearer signals about what is working. Executive leaders get a better link between spend and workforce support. Over time, that also supports smarter planning because decisions are based on use patterns, employee feedback, and quantifiable outcomes.
That is the practical case for clarity. Better benefit utilization is not about driving more activity for its own sake. It is about helping the right people use the right support at the right time.
Employees cannot use benefits they do not understand or cannot easily reach. The fix is straightforward, raise awareness, reduce friction, offer navigators, and use survey feedback to guide focused improvements.
Organizations that make benefits simpler and more personal are more likely to see stronger participation, better workforce support, and more meaningful outcomes over time.
