2013 Employer Leave Management Survey

Transcription

1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 2013 Employer Leave Management Survey DMEC/Spring Consulting DMEC White Paper Series January 2014

2 Authored by: Karen English, Partner Spring Consulting Group, LLC Gary Gustafson, Consultant Spring Consulting Group, LLC Charles Fox, CEO/President DMEC, Inc. Analysis and Editing: Karen English, Partner Gary Gustafson, Consultant Lia-Sahn Hackett, Associate Consultant Spring Consulting Group, LLC About DMEC The Disability Management Employer Coalition (DMEC) is a non-profit organization that provides educational resources to employers in the areas of disability, absence, health, and productivity. The primary goal of DMEC is to assist employers in developing cost-saving programs, encouraging responsive market products, and returning employees to productive employment. DMEC currently has over 5,000 members in chapters across North America. Both Employer and Supplier memberships are offered. DMEC strives to provide excellence in service and industry leadership by adhering to the highest principles of integrity, honesty, and ethical standards. To obtain a copy of the entire 41-page 2013 Leave Management Survey report or for more information on DMEC, including upcoming conferences, seminars, webinars, chapter activities, educational publications, member news and resources visit or call

3 Executive Summary Background This third annual report provides a summary and an analysis of the 2013 Employer Leave Management Survey jointly sponsored by the Disability Management Employer Coalition (DMEC) and Spring Consulting Group (Spring). The survey tracks employer methods, challenges, and successes in the administration of the following leave types: Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) State Family and Medical Leaves Military Leave (USERRA) State Military Leave Jury Duty Other State Mandated Leaves Municipal/County Leaves Other Company Specific Leaves (e.g., Bereavement, Administrative, Personal Leaves) ADA Accommodation Leave The survey was released at the 18th Annual International DMEC Conference, using a similar online format as 2012 and included 44 questions (four questions were added in 2013). It was completed by 407 employers (an increase of 71% from the 238 respondents in 2012, and more than double the 152 respondents in 2011) across the U.S. representing all organizational sizes (with higher representation from those companies with 250 9,999 employees than in 2011), and a broad range of industries including health care, utilities/energy, retail/wholesale, education, and financial/ insurance, to name a few. The results are compared to the 2012 and 2011 baseline results where applicable, recognizing a much larger sample size in The DMEC and Spring continue their partnership in an effort to provide meaningful and actionable information to the absence management industry through these types of survey reports. Although FMLA and leave management are often included as topics in other surveys and studies, there is a lack of advice for employers on how to truly manage this risk. We therefore structured this survey and corresponding report to aid employers in their decision making by providing best practices, reference to tools and resources, and predictions on how they can expect their programs to evolve in the future. 3

4 Recent Changes The FMLA turned 20 years old in February of 2013 and was marked by the Department of Labor (DOL) with the circulation of key survey findings about the FMLA 1 and the release of a final rule expanding FMLA protections for military families and airline flight crews. Some key findings from the DOL study include: 60% of employees represented in the survey are eligible for coverage per the FMLA criteria 85% of employers report complying with the FMLA is very easy, somewhat easy, or has no noticeable effect 90% of workers return to their employer after FMLA leave Only 24% of leave is intermittent leave 13% of all employees reported taking leave for a FMLA reason in the past 12 months Fewer than 3% of covered worksites reported suspicion of FMLA misuse Fewer than 2% of covered worksites reported confirmed misuse of FMLA These enlightening statistics, as well as our own that follow, indicate that employers and employees are embracing the FMLA and are more smoothly incorporating it into their business processes. Our findings, however also indicate that while becoming more informed, educated, and confident with FMLA, employers continue to face some challenges and struggle with certain aspects of administration of the FMLA and other leaves of absence. Further complicating FMLA administration, are the new requirements arising from the 2013 Supreme Court Windsor case decision 2 on the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Employers must now allow employees who live in states that recognize same-sex marriage to take FMLA leave to care for the employee s same-sex spouse with a serious health condition or attend to certain obligations including child care and related activities arising from a spouse being called to active duty. Employees in these states are eligible to take 26 weeks of caregiver leave to attend to a military spouse who is seriously injured or ill. Conversely in states that do not recognize same-sex marriages, these increased leave benefits are not required. These FMLA rights are extended to employees based on residence and not work location. Due to the sweeping nature of the Windsor ruling, it will continue to redefine regulation, policy changes, and employer practices for some time until all of the federal and state agencies impacted by the decision finalize their respective positions United States v. Windsor, 133 S. Ct (2013) 4

5 Best Practices The results of the third annual 2013 Employer Leave Management Survey illustrate that although employers continue to face challenges to meet the complex and changing requirements of leave administration, they are overcoming them by developing solutions internally or contracting administration through outsourcing vendors and resources. While difficulties remain and regulations evolve, certain tasks are becoming less burdensome, and employers are taking more control of their leave administration programs than ever before. While the survey results provide many insights into employers methods, we highlight and categorize a few best practices around people, process and resources/technology. The intent is to provide employers, and those in the industry with some thoughtful analysis, direction, and questions they can ask regarding their leave management practices and programs that are most effective relative to cost, process, personnel, and productivity. People Education and Training Element Description Findings Periodic and consistent training of managers and supervisors is critical to helping them understand the process, their responsibilities, limit liability, and uniformly administer the organization s leave policies. 40% of employers rate training supervisors as extremely difficult Lack of training or knowledge of leave laws is frequently mentioned by respondents as a factor that contributed most to the program s struggles Staffing and Support Organizational Collaboration Ensuring that staff is qualified, trained and experienced can make a big difference in how smoothly and efficiently the leave programs run. Internal processes, communication and departmental collaboration are essential elements of an efficient leave management program. 90% of respondents indicate HR is involved in tracking and managing leaves 79% indicate managers are involved 35% of organizations rate relying on managers for leave enforcement as extremely difficult 53% of employers describe the relationship between HR/benefits and risk management as successful or positive More than half of respondents report using internal legal resources 5

6 Process Element Description Findings Policy Consistency Operational Centralization Ongoing Improvement Leave and absence policies should be as uniform and applied as consistently as possible across the organization regardless of size or geography, allowing for some flexibility. Regardless of department, division, or location, managers, supervisors, and employees need to be able to access one central place for all tasks related to leave administration. Given the constant changes occurring in leave laws and regulations, constant improvement and monitoring of current practices is a key for a successful program. 67% of employers report applying leave policies uniformly, with some flexibility, across the organization 68% of employers indicate their approach to leave management is centralized Future reported changes to programs include implementing a uniform platform, developing data feeds, outsourcing, implementing software, and aggressive management Resources/Technology Element Description Findings Build or Buy Decision Employers should evaluate whether internal or external resources and systems are right for their organization from cost, cultural, consistency, and operational perspectives. The rate of employer outsourcing has increased by up to 16% (34% outsource FMLA leaves) Rates of manual tracking FMLA leaves have decreased nearly 8% over 2012 (13% track FMLA manually in 2013) Employers with 500 to 999 employees are most apt to use externally developed systems, but run them internally Capability Sufficiency Measurement/ Tracking/ Reporting Once implemented, vendor systems must be constantly updated to keep up with new requirements. Understanding key metrics of leave programs can help administrators and decision makers refine, improve, and enhance leave programs to further achieve company goals and objectives. 39% of large employers (20,000+) rely on outsourced vendor tools to manage FMLA leave Employers of all sizes saw an increase in outsourcing state FMLA leaves A small number (5%) of employers have begun to outsource ADA accommodation leave 17% of all employers are extremely challenged to keep up with new federal, state and/or municipal/county leave laws About a third of respondents are able to measure program metrics for elements such as decreased costs, lost time, RTW rates, abuse, and productivity 6

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8 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 2013 Employer Leave Management Survey DMEC/Spring Consulting DMEC White Paper Series Copyright 2014 DMEC. All rights reserved.