If you’re onboarding a new employee, or you’re an employee enrolling in benefits, you may be asked to indicate a sex when filling out personal information.
We know this is not inclusive of non-binary and gender-fluid people, and it doesn’t represent the reality of gender. Though states now recognize more options than the binary “male” and “female,” life and disability insurance carriers still require one of the two on their enrollment forms. We’ll only ever ask this when absolutely required, and we’ll only use it to enroll you in benefits.
How to make a selection
While we cannot alleviate the experience of having to select a sex that does not correctly define a person, we’ve confirmed that the insurance carriers will accept and not dispute what is reported. They do not require the selection to match any previous legal records or identification. We'll continue to work with the insurance carriers toward more inclusive options.
Your medical insurance carrier cannot limit coverage for sex-specific preventive care, regardless of the selection you make during enrollment—learn more from Healthcare.gov.
When you'll see the question
We’ll only ask this when absolutely necessary to enroll you in benefits—which is if your company offers life or disability insurance through Gusto (including the broker integration) and you’re benefits-eligible.
If an admin opts to have a new hire self-onboard, the employee will see the question on the “Personal details” page when setting up their account. If an admin onboards the new hire themselves, they’ll make the selection on the employee’s “Personal details” page. The selection will only be visible to the employee and company admins.
Heads up: Though the question only has to be answered once, anytime you enroll in or change your benefits, the previously indicated sex will be listed alongside your personal info for review. This is so you can check the information that will be included on your insurance enrollment form. If you wish to change it, reach out to us to update before you complete your enrollment.