DMEC and Spring Consulting Group, an Alera Group Company have partnered for the eleventh year to conduct annual research about employer leave management practices. Our national survey tracks employer methods for administering both regulatory and non-regulatory leaves and offers a detailed view of employer preferences and strategies for administering leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), other state or local laws, and company-specific directives. This is the second year we have collected data to provide plan and policy benchmarking to support employer program design.

This year’s survey was released during the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic at the 2021 DMEC Virtual Annual Conference and closed on Dec. 31, 2021. It featured over 80 questions, including additional questions related to plan and policy design, and used a similar online format as prior years. The survey was completed by 703 employers who collectively represent all organizational sizes, U.S. states, and a broad range of industries.

This year’s report highlights trends and employer perspectives on regulatory leaves (e.g., FMLA, ADA), non-regulatory leaves (e.g., vacation, personal leave), and approaches to paid leave programs. It reviews practical application of insourced and outsourced programs, systems used to manage leave, return to work (RTW) and accommodations, and day-to-day leave management processes. It also offers benchmarks for employers to compare their programs against other like organizations and organizes responses into useful size segments and industry differences where notable.

The results from the survey were also presented in the Webinar Recording: Results of the 11th Annual Leave Management Survey.