Dayforce, Inc. (formerly Ceridian HMC, Inc.)

Between 2021 and 2023, Dayforce, a provider of human resource software and services to businesses internationally, saw a marked improvement in participant outcomes. Participation in its 401(k) plan increased by 11.6%, and the plan’s average participant deferral rate increased by 21%. The main key to the success? Adding automatic features.

The company, which rebranded from Ceridian in February and has its headquarters in Minneapolis, added automatic enrollment at 6% and annual automatic escalation of 1%, up to 15% of pre-tax contributions. Last year, participation rose from 75.9% to 84.7%, and the average deferral rate went from 10.3% to 12.5%. During that time, the company also added an automatic rollover feature to close small accounts—i.e., up to $5,000—of terminated employees; this reduced stale, dated accounts and improved the process.

“They want to do the right thing for their participants,” says Jean Fisher, lead relationship manager at T. Rowe Price, in regard to Dayforce adding automatic features. “They want to make sure [employees are] where they should be at retirement.”

Today, the average participant account balance at Dayforce is $184,175, which is much higher than the T. Rowe Price average of $121,635, Fisher notes.

“We are constantly looking at ways to enhance the overall benefits offering,” says Tom Armani, global benefits director at Dayforce.

Dayforce was already hard at work to improve its plan long before it adopted the auto-features. The company implemented fee leveling in 2020 for fee transparency and equalization, Fisher says, and it uses the lowest-cost investments when that makes sense. As to data quality, Fisher says, Dayforce’s rates as 100%, vs. the industry average of 69%.

“The [company’s] data is always in excellent order,” Fisher says.

In 2018, Dayforce reduced outstanding loans from two to one and added a 30-day waiting period for all 401(k) loans. As a result, the company saw overall loan utilization drop from 27% to 15%—a 44% reduction, Armani says.

Part of the mission to improve the plan was inspired by participant input. Recently, Armani says, a participant emailed asking about adding a mega backdoor Roth option. While the company already has a Roth, he says, it is now exploring this more nuanced option.

“No idea is a bad idea,” Armani says. “We’re always willing to have a sidebar and flesh [an idea] out if [that employee] idea merits moving forward.”

Dayforce remains invested in the employee experience, with a strong focus on diversity, equity and inclusion as well as holistic wellness. The company has added a new suite of benefits in recent years—and at no cost to employees—including Cleo, a service to help working parents find child care or elder care, plan for college, etc. Dayforce also offers Visana Health, a virtual women’s health clinic.

In the future, Dayforce plans to look into the possibility of a student loan solution program as well as an in-plan Roth rollover option, Fisher says.

The company continues to focus on the “retiree experience,” making sure those leaving employment have tools and resources available for a retirement that meets their needs, she says.

—Corie Hengst