As the leave management landscape continues to morph and change across the U.S., employers are getting more creative with how they support employees, and recognizing the need to lead with heart. With higher employee expectations for benefit plan and program design, DMEC subject matter experts note that employers are giving more than ever before during this episode of the DMEC podcast. Listen in for insights from Kristin Jones, CLMS, PHR, SHRM-CP, Director, DMEC Education Programs; Jess Dudley, CLMS, CPDM, DMEC Senior Education Manager; and Virginia Cyrus, DMEC Education Manager.
They discuss takeaways from the 2025 DMEC Annual Conference, which illustrate bigger industry trends and the value of attending DMEC’s Virtual Annual Conference on Oct. 1. Register by Sept. 19 for a chance to win prizes and gain the insights and tools your team needs for ongoing success: https://dmec.org/annual-conference/virtual-event/
Resources:
- DMEC Membership
- FMLA/ADA Training for Supervisors & Managers
- Virtual Annual Conference
- DMEC Certification & Training
Transcript
data. You know, that was a huge discussion throughout the conference and you know, a lot of the challenges that employees still face, employers still face, is the manual tracking and how difficult that is. And it's not sustainable. Many organizations, they're still struggling with that piece of it. And you know, there was a lot of good discussion on why it's important to have an automated like tracking system and to be able to, you know, flag and streamline your communication by having,
you know, the right type of automation as well as to be able to analyze trends. So those were my key takeaways from my first annual conference.
[:you can tell we were at the same conference match. I also had data driven decisions as well, I think for all of the reasons that she had indicated as well. I mean, we need to be able to advocate and have better resources and those resources and policies internally just to support the neurodiversity, your workforce, everybody. And so I think that's real important. I also had listed communication, supervisor training, manager training, communication with employees, all of that, like, very important. And then another takeaway for me aside from those was just how much these leave management professionals are really being asked to juggle right now. I mean, there's the state programs and the federal policies and the discussions around all of the leaves happening and the growing need for mental health support. So they really have a lot that they're trying to juggle right now. I know. Kristin, what do you think?
[:And employers are really getting creative in the ways that they are. The things that they're trying to support their employees through, what role they're trying to play for their employees and what roles they're being asked to play.
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25:13] Kristin Jones: I think it just shows that the challenge is growing.
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