HR says all employees required to talk to a salesman about a benefit — how to respond?

manpreet Best Answer 3 years ago

I work for a large government employer - a community college district in the US with thousands of employees. I received an email from HR saying that all employees were required to meet with a salesperson from an outside financial services company in order to "make informed decisions regarding the Section 125 Plan and other pre-taxed options."

I resent their approach for several reasons:

• It's an inefficient use of my time, since I could figure out my options much more efficiently by reading something written down rather than sitting through a powerpoint presentation.
• I also don't like the idea of being shoved into a room with a salesperson against my will -- it doesn't seem likely to put me in a position to deal intelligently with the sales pitch.

I probably do want to participate in the plan, but I don't want to be marched through the process by a salesperson without prior access to any information.

Is this a normal thing for an employer to do? Any suggestions for how to protect my time and avoid being forced into a hasty decision by a salesperson whom I have no reason to trust?

manpreet 3 years ago

This is obviously something they are mandated to do for some reason. The best thing to do is go to the meeting, listen to the information, collect the literature, then get on with your day.

It's not really a salesman that you'll be talking to. The sale is already done. Your organization hired the company to administer the plan. You are given some choices to make, and the meeting is to help you make those choices. But you do not have the option to have someone else administer your plan. This is a take it or leave it type of deal.