Employer Perspective: Communicating With Challenging Employees

The 11th annual DMEC Employer Leave Management Survey white paper, published April 15, provides context for an increasingly complex industry that affects all aspects of an organization’s success. The survey has grown in size and scope since 2011 and illustrates a growing recognition that integrated absence management programs mitigate costly compliance risks.
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.
Determining a “reasonable accommodation” is more complicated than ever, due to ongoing concerns about COVID-19, long COVID, and a dizzying number of state-specific requirements for COVID-19 vaccine accommodations and supplemental paid sick leave. We must brace for ongoing COVID conversations — considering millions of people are affected by long COVID which may be keeping more than one million employees out of work.