Fringe Benefit Group (FBG), a third-party administrator focused on hourly and prevailing wage workforces, has launched a new digital experience for brokers and advisors, their employer clients and plan members, as benefits teams face pressure to simplify administration for variable-hour staff.
The Austin, Texas-based company announced the launch Wednesday. It recently rolled out a mobile app where members can access enrollment tools, plan details, benefit cards and claims, along with new login and registration capabilities that FBG said are designed for advanced security and ease of use. An enhanced employee enrollment process and an employee benefits administration portal are due later this year.
“For over 40 years we’ve brought health, retirement, and specialty benefits together for employers with hourly and part-time team employees. Via our flagship products The American Worker and The Contractors Plan, we serve hundreds of thousands of hard-working people, and our goal is to provide them with a highly secure, state-of-the-art digital experience. The launch of our new mobile app is a step forward and we are extremely excited about the recent launch of our new FBG-branded portal and employee experience,” said Travis West, CEO of FBG.
FBG says it serves thousands of restaurants, staffing agencies, retail businesses, healthcare organizations and prevailing wage contractors, bringing health, retirement and specialty benefits into one platform as a licensed third-party administrator. The company, founded in 1983 to help government contractors meet Davis-Bacon Act and Service Contract Act requirements, said its proprietary technology covers onboarding through ongoing administration and that it works with a nationwide network of brokers and advisors.
Hourly and part-time staff are among the hardest groups to cover. A look at the shrinking ACA Marketplace cited KFF’s 2025 employer survey, which found 80% of workers at employers offering health benefits are eligible for the company plan, but only 67% at firms with many lower-wage workers and 53% in retail. Just 27% of large firms offering coverage extend it to part-time staff.
Federal rules do not close that gap. Under ACA employer rules, applicable large employers, generally those with 50 or more full-time equivalent employees, must offer affordable coverage to people averaging 30 or more hours a week, and anyone below that can be excluded without penalty.
Pressure is also building from the individual market. Enrollment fell 13% from its 2025 peak to 19.2 million by February 2026 after enhanced premium tax credits expired, and KFF found the average Marketplace deductible rose 37% to a record $3,786. Marsh projects employer health benefit costs will rise 8.2% per employee in 2027, the largest increase since 2003, and 59% of employers plan cost-cutting changes such as higher deductibles.
Employers increasingly weigh platforms when choosing benefits. In The Hartford’s 2026 Future of Benefits Study of 500 employers, 54% said HR technology and benefits platforms are highly influential in selecting benefits, and 95% acted to improve their 2026 open enrollment experience. Smaller employers lean on brokers: 58% look to them for open enrollment guidance, versus 42% of larger employers.
Zywave’s 2026 survey of more than 1,400 employers found failure to adopt modern technology and AI tools now ranks among the top eight reasons employers would consider switching brokers, though 71% also expect their broker to act as a trusted advisor, up from 56% in 2023.
Enrollment time is limited. A Lincoln Financial and Employee Benefit Research Institute study released Oct. 1 found 86% of employees spend four hours or less reviewing enrollment materials, which the researchers said gives employers and brokers a limited window to make benefit information clear.
