Terms of use

Benefits Commons is operated by Mike Hopkins personally, as an individual based in the United States. It is not operated by a company, LLC or other legal entity. These terms are between you and Mike Hopkins as operator (“we”, “us”).

You accept these terms, the community standards and the privacy notice when you tick the acknowledgment on the application form. Those three documents are the whole set of rules that apply; there are no other policies you are agreeing to. If you do not agree, please do not apply or use the community.

Membership is for professionals working on the employer side of benefits, total rewards and related functions, and for lawful professional purposes only. You must be at least 18 and give accurate application information. Every application is reviewed by a person; approval is at the moderators' discretion and is not guaranteed.

A “verified member” badge means a moderator reviewed your application. It is not a background check, employer confirmation or LinkedIn verification. Your membership is personal and cannot be shared or transferred. Keep your password private.

You agree not to:

• pitch, promote or sell products or services, generate leads, or recruit members as prospects;
• send unsolicited direct outreach; connections require the other member to accept;
• scrape, export, copy or collect the directory, profiles, contact details or content;
• share confidential, privileged or personal information you do not have the right to share, including employee health or plan member data;
• harass, discriminate, impersonate others, or post unlawful content;
• attempt to bypass access controls, rate limits or moderation.

You keep ownership of what you post. You give us a non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to store, display and organise it inside the community so the service can work, and for moderation. Other approved members may read it and use ideas from it in their own work; resources submitted to the library may be copied, printed or downloaded by members. You are responsible for having the right to share what you post.

You can delete your own posts, comments and messages. Copies already downloaded by other members cannot be recalled.

Moderators may hide or remove content, decline or reverse applications, and suspend or remove membership for breach of these terms or the standards, misrepresentation, or conduct that undermines the community. Decisions are logged. If you disagree with a decision about your application, use the reconsideration option on your status page or email mhopkins8587@gmail.com.

Discussions, resources and templates are peer experience and editorial material. They are not legal, tax, actuarial, medical, investment or financial advice. Check official sources and your own advisers before acting.

Benefits Commons is independent and free to members. It is not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by any employer, consultancy, vendor or professional services firm, including the operator's employer. Members speak for themselves, not their employers.

The service is provided “as is” and “as available” by an individual, without warranties of any kind. It may change, be interrupted or be shut down, and content may be lost. Keep your own copies of anything important.

To the extent the law allows, we are not liable for indirect or consequential losses, for content posted by members, or for decisions you make based on community content. Nothing in these terms limits liability that cannot be limited by law.

You may stop using the community at any time and ask us to close your account by emailing mhopkins8587@gmail.com. We may end access as described under Moderation.

We may update these terms. We will change the date above and tell members about material changes in the community before they take effect. Continuing to use the community after that means you accept the update.