As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on August 7, 2020

Registration Statement No. 333-            

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM S-8

REGISTRATION STATEMENT

UNDER

THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

Benefitfocus, Inc.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

100 Benefitfocus Way

Charleston, South Carolina 29492

(Address, including zip code, of registrant’s principal executive offices)

Benefitfocus, Inc. Second Amended and Restated 2012 Stock Plan, as amended

(Full title of the plan)

Paris Cavic, Esq.

Vice President and General Counsel

100 Benefitfocus Way

Charleston, South Carolina 29492

(843) 849-7476

(Name, address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)

COPIES TO:

Donald R. Reynolds, Esq.

S. Halle Vakani, Esq.

Lorna A. Knick, Esq.

Wyrick Robbins Yates & Ponton LLP

4101 Lake Boone Trail, Suite 300

Raleigh, North Carolina 27607

(919) 781-4000

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act.  ☐

CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE

EXPLANATORY NOTE

This Registration Statement is being filed to register an additional 1,500,000 shares of Benefitfocus, Inc. (the “Registrant”) common stock, securities of the same class for which Registration Statements on Form S-8 relating to the 2012 Stock Plan are effective. Accordingly, the contents of the previous Registration Statements on Form S-8 filed by the Registrant with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) on November 12, 2013 (File No. 333-192278), June 9, 2017 (File No. 333-218633), and August 7, 2019 (File No. 333-233088), including periodic reports filed after the previous Registration Statements on Form S-8 to maintain current information about the Registrant, are incorporated by reference into this Registration Statement pursuant to General Instruction E of Form S-8.

The following documents previously filed by the Registrant with the Commission are incorporated herein by reference:

All documents filed, but not furnished, by the Registrant pursuant to Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act after the date hereof and prior to the filing of a post-effective amendment to this Registration Statement that indicates that all securities offered under this Registration Statement have been sold or which deregisters all securities then remaining unsold shall be deemed to be incorporated by reference herein and to be a part hereof from the date of filing of such documents. In no event, however, will any of the information, including exhibits, that the Registrant discloses under Item 2.02 and Item 7.01 of any report on Form 8-K that has been or may be, from time to time, furnished to the Commission be incorporated by reference into or otherwise become a part of this Registration Statement.

Any statement contained in a document incorporated by reference herein shall be deemed to be modified or superseded for purposes hereof to the extent that a statement contained herein (or in any other subsequently filed document that also is or is deemed to be incorporated by reference herein) modifies or supersedes such statement. Any statement so modified or superseded shall not be deemed to constitute a part hereof, except as so modified or superseded.

The following exhibits are filed as part of this Registration Statement:

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, the Registrant certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets all of the requirements for filing on Form S-8 and has duly caused this Registration Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in the City of Charleston, State of South Carolina, on the 7th day of August, 2020.

POWER OF ATTORNEY

Each person whose signature appears below constitutes and appoints Raymond A. August and Paris Cavic, and each of them, his or her true and lawful attorney-in-fact and agent, with full power of substitution and resubstitution, for him or her and in his or her name, place and stead, in any and all capacities, to sign any and all amendments (including post-effective amendments) to this Registration Statement, and to file the same, with all exhibits thereto, and other documents in connection therewith, with the Securities and Exchange Commission, granting unto said attorney-in-fact and agent full power and authority to do and perform each and every act and thing requisite and necessary to be done in and about the premises, as fully to all intents and purposes as he or she might or could do in person, hereby ratifying and confirming all that said attorney-in-fact and agent, or his or her substitute or substitutes, may lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue hereof.

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, this Registration Statement has been signed by the following persons in the capacities and on the dates indicated.

Exhibit 5.1

Wyrick Robbins Yates & Ponton LLP

4101 Lake Boone Trail, Suite 300

Raleigh, North Carolina 27607

August 7, 2020

Benefitfocus, Inc.

100 Benefitfocus Way

Charleston, South Carolina 29492

Ladies and Gentlemen:

We have examined the Registration Statement on Form S-8 filed on or about the date hereof by Benefitfocus, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Registrant”), with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Registration Statement”), in connection with the registration under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, of 1,500,000 shares of the Registrant’s common stock, $0.001 par value per share (the “Shares”). We understand the Shares are to be issued pursuant to the Benefitfocus, Inc. Second Amended and Restated 2012 Stock Plan, as amended, and as may be further amended from time to time (the “Plan”). In our examination, we have assumed the genuineness of all signatures, the authenticity of all documents submitted to us as originals and the conformity with the original of all documents submitted to us as copies thereof.

As the Registrant’s legal counsel, we have examined the proceedings taken, and are familiar with the proceedings proposed to be taken, in connection with the sale of the Shares pursuant to the Plan.

It is our opinion that, upon completion of the proceedings being taken or contemplated by us, as your counsel, to be taken prior to the issuance of the Shares, the Shares when issued in the manner referred to in the Registration Statement and in accordance with the Plan, will be legally and validly issued, fully paid and nonassessable.

We consent to the use of this opinion as an exhibit to the Registration Statement and further consent to the use of our name wherever appearing in the Registration Statement, including the Prospectus constituting a part thereof, and any amendments thereto.

Exhibit 23.1

CONSENT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

We consent to the incorporation by reference in the Registration Statement (Form S-8) pertaining to the Second Amended and Restated 2012 Stock Plan, as amended, of Benefitfocus, Inc., of our reports dated March 4, 2020, with respect to the consolidated financial statements of Benefitfocus, Inc. and the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting of Benefitfocus, Inc. included in its Annual Report (Form 10-K) for the year ended December 31, 2019, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.