Common Sense Compliance: Integrated Absence Management

Tasha Patterson@Work

Integrated Absence Management

By Marjory Robertson, JD

AVP, Senior Counsel
Sun Life U.S.

By Abigail O’Connell, JD

Senior Counsel
Sun Life U.S.

Layering leave and accommodation entitlements with existing disability programs can result in confusion between job protection and available benefits. Here is a roadmap for navigating leave, accommodation, and disability. It will require collaboration among all your in-house and outsourced leave management resources to ensure your employees are getting the leave, coverage, and accommodations they need.

  • Leave Reason or Accommodation. Understanding the leave reason or accommodation request is critical. The request itself, whether for medical, military, bonding, or other reasons, will enable you to identify the relevant leave law, accommodation requirement, or disability program. Remember that an employee injured in the course of employment may have workers’ compensation (WC) running concurrently with leave or accommodation requirements.
  • Applicability & Eligibility. If leave or accommodation law is implicated, is the employer subject to the law? For example, the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) applies to all public employers and to private employers with 50 or more employees during 20 or more calendar workweeks in the current or preceding year. State and local entitlements often apply to smaller employers and can run concurrently with the FMLA. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) apply to private employers with 15 or more employees and require reasonable accommodations be provided to qualifying individuals.

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