For the first time, many organizations are supporting five generations of employees. And each has distinct life circumstances, health needs, and expectations around time away from work. A young employee managing anxiety, a new parent bonding with a child, and a long-tenured worker recovering from surgery all need leave, but the reasons, accommodations, and communication preferences couldn’t be more different.

This session drew on new generational data from AbsenceSoft’s 2026 research to explore how leave and accommodation patterns diverge by age, and what that means for program design. We shared practical strategies for building flexible, equitable frameworks that meet employees where they are without creating administrative chaos for your team.