Total Absence Management: The Benefits of Integrating WC, STD, and Leave

By Kimberly Mashburn, RN

National Accounts Practice Lead
The Hartford

Lost time is lost time, whether an employee is out due to a job-related accident or is a weekend warrior with a sports-related injury. But if one employee is out on workers’ compensation (WC) and the other on short-term disability (STD), that’s where administration must diverge when managing these absences, right? Not necessarily.

Effective integration of both the risk management and benefits sides of the house can help employers better manage absences and safely return people to work. The results can be shorter absence durations and improved cost savings, as shown in case histories from three of our clients:

• A healthcare employer saved over $2.3 million a year when standalone absences and leave durations ran below industry averages by 69% and 11%, respectively.
• A large manufacturer reduced average WC lost time claims cost from about $12,000 to just under $3,000 over three years.
• A global employer undergoing a merger coordinated WC and disability management in a combined return-to-work (RTW) approach. Claims durations dropped by an average of 15 days per absence, saving the employer almost $420,000 annually.

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