Absence Management
Leave management is complex.
Get help with understanding the basics.
Absence management is defined as the way employers plan, track, and manage employee leaves. It requires employers to stay up to date with all staff requirements, legal and regulatory compliance, budget concerns, and employee satisfaction. If keeping up with these requirements is a challenge, you can put our 60 years of experience helping businesses manage leave and disability to work for you.
- Gain knowledge
I need help keeping up with the complexities of employee leave, including FMLA rules and requirements.
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- Explore options
I’m not sure my current absence management program is meeting my needs.
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I want tools and resources to provide guidance to my clients on absence management solutions.
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Absence management insights
- Know your absence management scoreGet your score
The Guardian Absence Management Scorecard can help you compare your efforts against similar companies and identify opportunities to strengthen your absence management program.
- Learn how absence management is evolvingDownload now
New adoption of best practices to manage workforce health and productivity dwindled in 2021. Learn more in our latest absence management report.
- Attend our Absence Management Academy seriesRegister now
Learn absence management fundamentals, and get the latest insights and best practices from our Absence Management Academy webinars.
Absence management basics
- What is absence management?
Absence management refers to the ways that employers plan, track, and handle different types of employee leaves.
- What types of leaves does absence management cover?
Absence management - and compliance - covers the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA), jury duty, company leaves, short- and long-term disability, Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML), and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Absence management and employee leave types
- How does FMLA impact absence management?Learn more about what you should know about FMLA
FMLA is a federal law that provides eligible employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave per calendar year for the care of a family member, or their own serious health condition.
- How do state PFML laws impact absence management?Visit the PFML Resource Center now
PFML laws set the standards for managing employee work absences in states where they apply. Our PFML Resource Center helps you navigate PFML laws by providing a state-by-state overview of programs and resources.
- How does absence management work with disability insurance?Learn about Guardian Group Disability insurance
Many absences could be due to an employee’s own health issue. Centralizing disability with FMLA and other leave types can be a best practice to help ease administration, enhance the employee experience, and improve productivity.
Frequently asked questions about absence management
- How do you manage absence effectively?
Broadly speaking, managing leave and absence can be done in much the same way that HR and businesses leaders approach other operational challenges:
- Information needs to be gathered so that management better understands absence trends in their organization.
- Based on that learning and insight – and an understanding of the applicable legal and regulatory requirements – policies and processes can be defined. Managers and employees need to be educated on the newly defined practices.
- Ongoing data measurement tracks the success of these efforts and informs the process for making needed adjustments.
- What are some best practices for absence management?Learn more
Discover five proven strategies that can help companies better manage leave and disability issues, and lead to improved absence management outcomes.
- What are absence management services?
Absence management services and solutions help employers plan, track, and handle employee leaves while complying with federal and state leave laws. System capabilities can include administration, employee communications, claims management, return-to-work support, and reporting.
The goal of an absence management solution:
Guardian Absence SolutionsSM provides a powerful technology platform with an intuitive, integrated user experience to drastically simplify administration, ensure compliance with Federal and state regulations, and help drive improved back-to-work outcomes from disability.
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