"A couple of years ago, I had an employee call me who wanted to cancel his FSA mid-year due to a change in his hours. He was still working full time but instead of working overtime each week, he was now just barely averaging 30 hours a week, and he wanted to stop his FSA contributions to increase his take-home pay. Since he had not experienced a life event, he was unable to make a change to his benefits. He was less than pleased when I delivered this news to him and began yelling into the phone and using profanities. I took a deep breath and waited for him to finish venting his anger. When he paused for a moment, I jumped in and told him I understood why he was upset and how frustrating benefit laws can be. I then said while I could not stop his FSA, I could help him find the best ways to use the money being put into the account. This turned me from the enemy into a partner and we worked together to come up with ways he felt good about using the money, like asking his doctor for a note to allow him to use FSA dollars to cover the vitamins and supplements he and his family took. By the end of the call, he seemed excited about the ways he could use his FSA. He even apologized for yelling at me! I was just grateful I had found a way to help him."
