Technology and Absence Management: How ben tech can help improve the employee leave experience
Leave administration can be hard — here’s why
In our recent webinar, “Technology and Absence Management: How ben tech can help improve the employee leave experience,” Guardian’s Mackenzie Carver, Absence Practice Leader, and Heather Francis, Technology Practice Leader, explored how benefits technology can help employers overcome common leave pain points and transform employee leave administration into a more connected and supportive experience for both workers and the organization.
“It's often a struggle for many organizations to stay on top of all the different compliance requirements that come with leave management,” Carver shares, “and according to our Guardian research, employers who have workers in multiple states with PFML laws are three times more likely to feel challenged with maintaining absence management compliance. And this is really the tip of the iceberg when it comes to leave administration, of course, because we also must consider other forms and aspects of leave, such as workers’ compensation, ADA, ADAAA, and the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act."
Opportunities to improve the leave experience
While many employers feel confident in their absence management practices, employee perspectives can differ. According to recent research, only about one in three employees report that their own leave experience went smoothly.1
Common pain points for employees include:
Uncertainty about disability insurance coverage
Challenges around claim submission and decision
Unawareness of available supporting benefits
Return-to-work accommodations
When employees have a positive leave experience, they’re more likely to feel supported by their employer and to remain with their organization in the following year. With mental health, substance use, and postpartum depression claims on the rise, compassionate and consistent leave processes are increasingly important for organizations of all sizes.
Trending solutions for addressing employee concerns
Many forward-thinking organizations are approaching these challenges by embracing trends, including:
1. Outsourcing leave management: This can help ensure compliance and free up internal HR resources.
2. Integrated leave models: Offering the right benefits at the right time, with streamlined coordination, can help improve employee outcomes.
3. Single claim intake: Employees can initiate one request for all applicable leaves, which can help ensure they get timely access to the benefits they need.
How technology is changing the game
“Technology can play a significant role in enabling integration and simplifying leave administration,” Carver shares. “We've seen employee expectations evolve over time where they want to be able to report their absences online and have more access to information at their fingertips.”
Francis adds, “And from an employer perspective, having access to your employees’ information holistically can really help, such as having increased reporting capabilities and a better flow of communication.”
Emerging technologies are helping to revolutionize absence management by offering opportunities to make processes faster, smarter, and more employee-friendly, including:
Electronic data interchange (EDI)
EDI helps facilitate easier plan management and reporting, eliminate manual entry and reduce errors, decrease process turnaround times, and keep member data accurate from day one through renewal.
Application programming interface (API) connections
API connections continue to expand, helping to provide connection and convenience for modern benefits administration. Common benefits of APIs include real-time plan set-up, real-time eligibility updates, and real-time EOI processing.
Mobile communication tools
Mobile communication tools, supported by EDI/API feeds, can help facilitate proactive creation of leaves based on the type of event and enrollment. These tools can enable e-signatures for medical authorization forms, helping to secure medical information quickly, as well as text messages for status updates, voice authorization, and confirmation of return-to-work plans.
Integrated wellness hubs
Our wellness hub, GuardianWell™, is a good example of how a digital hub can help workers prioritize their well-being with easy-to-use functions and integrated access to value-added benefits. Key features include:
Simplified access, allowing employees to view their wellness benefits in one place.
Single sign-on (SSO) within the benefits portal, so employees only need to remember one username and password.
Convenient access to relevant articles, videos, and quizzes to help support their mental wellness, physical health, financial fitness, and more.
Proactive service messages to drive employee awareness of available wellness benefits and resources.
AI-powered enhancements
AI-powered enhancements can help facilitate guided enrollment, personalized communications, actionable reporting, and faster processing. For instance:
Interactive assessments can walk employees through enrollment, helping them understand and select their benefits to support their well-being.
Billions of data points can be analyzed — alongside each user’s unique family, lifestyle, financial, and medical profile — to provide truly individualized guidance.
AI can help to review current demographics, claim utilization, feedback from surveys, and more to help benefit teams determine next steps and improve feedback.
Five tips for assessing your organization’s ben tech strategy
Determine your HR technology objectives.
Decide which services you need.
Talk to your benefits broker.
Evaluate your in-house benefits technology management.
Consider whether an absence vendor could help support your goals.
Learn more
To explore how benefits technology can help your organization improve absence management and create a better experience for your workforce, view the full webinar here. Explore how the right tools can help transform your absence management approach from a compliance challenge to a culture-building opportunity.