FMLA 201: Education, solutions, and building the case for outsourcing leave management 

While many organizations are familiar with the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), navigating the nuances can be challenging, especially as organizations grow and compliance expectations evolve. 

In a recent webinar, Guardian’s Matt Ceurvels, Head of Absence, Product Development, and guest speaker Shauna Bryngelson, Total Absence Management Consultant at The Partners Group, shared their knowledgeable insights on why managing leave internally has become increasingly complex and the many advantages that outsourcing can offer.

Check out these key highlights from the webinar that may help your organization navigate the path toward outsourcing:

What makes FMLA and ADA so complex?

FMLA is challenging due to how specific and structured it is, involving strict guidelines around forms and timeframes, defined leave types and rights, and limited scope of medical information employers can request. ADA, on the other hand, is also challenging due to how vague and open to interpretation it is, as it involves a broader range of accommodations, a lack of standardized forms or deadlines, and more variability in gathering medical information. 

As a result, managing FMLA and ADA poses many challenges for employers, including:

• Keeping up with federal, state, and local laws.

• Coordinating all absence types.

• Tracking intermittent leaves.

• Ensuring return-to-work compliance.

Why outsource leave management?

Outsourcing FMLA and short-term disability (STD) administration has more than doubled since 2012 among firms with fewer than 5,000 employees. Why? There are “many moving parts,” Bryngelson explains, and “especially for small to mid-size employers, the challenge is even greater because they're trying to manage leave potentially with a few resources or maybe those resources are being stretched across multiple roles.”¹

As a result, managing leave can often put an administrative burden on HR, preoccupying them so much that they don’t have time or resources to help workers navigate the process. This can result in a poor employee experience.  “Outsourcing can help solve many of these challenges,” Ceurvels shares, as it can help employers be “up to date with the evolution of laws and regulations and have access to strong compliance resources.” In addition, outsourcing leave management often provides:

• Software with an advanced, rules-based engine, facilitating more efficient and consistent decision making.

• A unified employee and HR service experience.

• More time for the in-house HR staff to focus on strategic business initiatives and employee engagement since leave management tasks are off their plate.

Streamlining leave administration can not only help to create efficiencies for the organization but also help to take significant stress off employees’ shoulders.

Making the case for outsourcing

“We see very much improved outcomes when employers outsource with the same provider for STD and FMLA,” Ceurvels shares. “Having that under one roof provides a more coordinated and streamlined experience,” adds Ceurvels, as he shares that many organizations that outsource leave management often see a “significant improvement in workforce heath and return-to-work rates.”

How do you begin the conversation around outsourcing and determine if it’s the right fit for your organization? Here are a couple of key steps to take:

Step 1: Assess current costs

Start with a full picture of your organization’s current spending, both direct and indirect. Consider what your internal staff may be able to accomplish if they weren't spending time on leave administration.

Step 2: Decide on key measures

Identify which measurements are the most important to your organization, such as percentage of approved cases, average leave duration, total hours used, and/or average hours per employee.

Step 3: Gather baselines on key measures

Once you’ve decided what to measure, capture baseline data that can be used to compare performance over time.

Strategically approaching leave outsourcing 

If you’ve determined that outsourcing is the right fit for your organization and have made the business case, the next step is developing a thoughtful and strategic approach.

Here are some key steps to consider:

Step 1: Set a philosophy

Focus on employee wellness and timely, safe return-to-work processes.  

Step 2: Lay the groundwork

Secure executive buy-in and develop a strong communications plan.  

Step 3: Create a model

Consider outsourcing both FMLA and STD to a single vendor for maximum efficiency.  

Step 4: Measure success

Track ROI through employee engagement, return-to-work metrics, and workforce productivity.  

Learn more

FMLA and ADA compliance isn’t just a legal obligation, it can be a critical factor in workforce productivity, morale, and well-being. Taking a thoughtful approach to leave administration and considering the benefits of outsourcing may help your organization reduce costs, save time, mitigate risk, and deliver a better overall employee leave experience. For a deeper dive into this discussion and more detail on these topics, watch the full webinar here.