COBRA administration looks straightforward on paper: an employee has a qualifying event, you send a notice, they elect coverage or they don't. In practice, it's one of the more unforgiving corners of benefits compliance. The timelines are strict, the notice requirements are specific, and the penalties for getting it wrong can add up fast, even when the mistake was completely unintentional.

The good news is that most COBRA missteps fall into a handful of predictable categories. Once you know where employers typically go wrong, it's much easier to build a process that avoids those pitfalls altogether.

Here are five of the most common COBRA mistakes, and what to do instead.