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Absence Management

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.

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Leave management is complex. Get help with understanding the basics.

Learn more about absence management

  • Gain knowledge

    I need help keeping up with the complexities of employee leave, including FMLA rules and requirements.

    Learn more

  • Explore options

    I’m not sure my current absence management program is meeting my needs.

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  • Guide clients

    I want tools and resources to provide guidance to my clients on absence management solutions.

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Fast fact: Employer outsourcing of leave administration has more than doubled from 2012 to 2021.¹

Absence management insights

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

Frequently asked questions about absence management

1  2022 Guardian Absence Management Activity Index & Study

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The Guardian Absence Management Scorecard can help you compare your efforts against similar companies and identify opportunities to strengthen your absence management program.

Get your score

The changing work environment — along with a competitive labor market and increasing workforce mental health concerns — has been top of mind for employers when it comes to benefits and absence management strategy.

Download now

Learn absence management fundamentals, and get the latest insights and best practices from our Absence Management Academy webinars.

Register now

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.

Learn more about what you should know about FMLA

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.

Visit the PFML Resource Center now

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.

Learn about Guardian Group Disability insurance

Broadly speaking, managing leave and absence can be done in much the same way that HR and businesses leaders approach other operational challenges:

  1. Information needs to be gathered so that management better understands absence trends in their organization.

  2. 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.

  3. Ongoing data measurement tracks the success of these efforts and informs the process for making needed adjustments.

Discover five proven strategies that can help companies better manage leave and disability issues, and lead to improved absence management outcomes.

Learn more

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.

Let’s connect

Guardian can help you take a closer look at how your absence management efforts are serving your employees, and your business. Reach out to us today.

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