When it comes to leaves of absence, more employers are leaving them to the experts
For employees, an important component of work-life balance and job satisfaction is the ability to take leaves of absence for everything from caring for themselves to serving in the military and from leaving the country to adopt a child to serving on jury duty.
Best practices: Managing FMLA
The 2006 FMLA Leadership Series brought together human resource and benefits professionals to discuss the top challenges of FMLA. A white paper based on the Series' findings, "2006 FMLA Leadership Series: Best Practices for Administration and Compliance," highlights the 10 best practices for managing FMLA and details how employer panelists meet these challenges at their respective companies. Key practices include:
Craft an FMLA policy tailored to your organization; one size does not fit all. Take the FMLA framework provided by the Department of Labor as a starting point. Where allowed, customize it so your guidelines on who can take leave, how individuals apply and what benefits they receive fit your company's needs and operations.
Find the right administrative option. Employers may outsource FMLA administration or manage it themselves. In deciding the best approach, human resource managers must determine how to best accomplish their benefit objectives given available resources.
Define how FMLA integrates with other benefits. FMLA is only one reason an employee may be away from work. So any FMLA program must work closely with other benefits -- like sick and vacation time -- if the company is to manage the cost of employee absences.
Know how to track intermittent leave. Many employers say it's harder to track one or two days off than bigger blocks of FMLA time. These brief FMLA leaves can have a huge impact on a department's productivity as this type of leave typically arises with little warning. Set clear guidelines for requesting and tracking this time.
For employers, a critical factor to business performance, productivity, customer satisfaction and profitability is improved management of human capital resources. However, the ability to better manage resources and reduce risk while navigating the increasingly complex world of absence laws and policies hinges on the employer's capacity to effectively integrate people, processes and data.
Meeting the needs and expectations of both camps can be complicated. But, armed with the right resources and technology, companies can better manage their workforce and comply with regulations while still enabling their employees to take the leaves they need. Sifting through the mountains of regulations, paperwork and data can be daunting. That's why many employers today are turning over the administration of leaves of absence programs and policies to the experts. ExpensiveAccording to a recent study by the Employment Policy Foundation, a non-partisan Washington, D.C.-based research group, compliance with the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) alone cost employers $21 billion in 2004. The direct costs of FMLA leave include the net labor replacement costs, continuation of group health benefits and lost productivity. And complex
The variety of leaves available today continues to become more complex. FMLA, with its many individual and overlapping state and federal leave regulations, along with a multitude of employer-authorized policies, need to be applied consistently to all employees to avoid compliance risks. Added to the mix are variables involving the tracking of intermittent leave, concurrence with short-term disability and workers' compensation leaves and more, and employers might find themselves spending time and money handling leaves of absence vs. their core business. "FMLA and other leaves provide valuable protection and time off for employees to take care of their family, health and other responsibilities, yet employers often find that the time and expense related to administering the leaves take away from other critical HR-related issues," said Ronnie Bragen, Ceridian product manager. "An estimated 40 percent of companies don't comply with FMLA, not because they don't want to -- but because they don't know how to." The basic requirements for employee eligibility for FMLA are a minimum of 12 months of employment with the employer, 1,250 hours of service in the preceding 12 months, and 50 employees within 75 miles of the employee in question. However, according to a January 2006 SHRM white paper "Employee Eligibility for FMLA Leave: When do 12 Months Mean 12 Months, and Other Mysterious Issues," the requirements are subject to much interpretation. Leave it to the experts
According to Susan King, a principal with Buck Consultants in Chicago, improving absence management through outsourcing is one way companies can save money without inconveniencing their workforce. As quoted in SHRM Online in October 2006, King sees the trend toward outsourcing taking a new turn as companies look for more effective ways to improve absence management. "Absence management involves tracking all absences," King says. "Outsourcing these activities can help companies improve process flow and improve data gathering and reporting -- ultimately gaining control over those absences." Ceridian's approach
Ceridian offers a full-service outsourcing solution to track, administer and manage all types of absences, including FMLA, state leave laws, employer-authorized policies and vacation/paid time off, in addition to company attendance and more. Online reporting provides detail and summary analysis, which can help employers manage their resources and improve business performance, productivity, customer satisfaction and profitability. Employers who want the benefits of an automated self-tracking solution, but prefer to retain the administration process in-house, can choose Ceridian's employer-administered solution, which enables them to use the same robust software as Ceridian's leave administrators. In addition, Ceridian provides ongoing consulting services to help companies design, implement and integrate these tools into their human resources functions. "Our main goal is to free companies from the burdens of managing the increasingly complex leaves of absences they offer today. We can help employers track leaves, comply with regulations, eliminate potential over-utilization and abuse of benefits and much more," Bragen said. "This will enable employers to focus on what they do best."
For more information about Ceridian's Leave Administration program, contact your Ceridian representative.
