Small employers should add a free annual review of their benefits setup to their yearly routine, according to John Zabasky, CEO of WorXsiteHR Insurance Solutions, Inc. The checkup examines how the plan is being used, where workers encounter friction, and whether the employer is still getting a fair deal on cost. Zabasky frames this as a standing habit rather than a one-time favor, recommending that employers schedule the review automatically each year instead of waiting for something to go wrong.
"Most employers only look hard at their benefits when something breaks," Zabasky said. "I want employers checking in every year, on purpose, whether anything is wrong or not." The distinction matters because benefits decisions are often reactive, made under pressure at renewal time when options are limited and deadlines are tight. An annual checkup shifts the process to a calmer, proactive footing, giving employers time to assess performance and make adjustments before problems compound.
Zabasky describes the checkup as a plain look at how a plan is working, not a pitch for a new one. It should walk through enrollment numbers, claims patterns, and worker feedback directly with the employer. The idea grew out of his experience working with lower income, part-time, and seasonal workforces through the HealthWorX Plan, where WorXsiteHR is the exclusive third-party administrator.
"With seasonal and part-time workforces, things change fast," he said. "Turnover changes. Hours change. A plan that fit in January can be a bad fit by September, and nobody notices until renewal." That volatility makes annual reviews especially important for employers in sectors that rely on flexible labor, where enrollment can swing significantly within a single plan year and a mismatch between the plan and the workforce can quietly undermine its value.
According to Zabasky, a good annual checkup gives employers three things: a plain-language summary of how the plan performed, a short list of any changes worth making, and a direct answer on whether costs are still in line with what similar employers are paying. The goal is to catch small problems before they turn into renewal-time surprises. "I would rather flag a problem in June than have an employer find out at renewal that their workers stopped using the plan months ago," he said.
HealthWorX is a no-cost medical plan, subsidized by a non-profit, built to give lower income, part-time, and seasonal workers access to healthcare they can actually use. WorXsiteHR administers the plan for employers who want it. Zabasky said an annual checkup habit is one way employers can make sure that access does not quietly erode over time. "A benefit only works if people use it," he said. "A checkup is how you make sure that stays true year after year, not just in the first year."
Zabasky recommends keeping the format simple: a short meeting, a plain summary, and a small number of recommendations an employer can act on right away. "You are not trying to hand someone a hundred-page report," he said. "You want them to walk away knowing three things: what is working, what is not, and what to do about it." For small employers with limited administrative resources, that simplicity may be the difference between a review that becomes an annual habit and one that is abandoned after the first year.
