March 17, 2025 — DMEC has launched a new member benefit to streamline parental leave      planning and provide wage replacement and job-protected leave information when employers are coordinating company benefits with local, state, and federal programs. DMEC’s AbsenceNavigator™ tool is powered by Penguin Benefits and designed to simplify benefits administration and coordination complexities, so disability and absence management professionals have more time to support employees.

“Employers and leave management practitioners are navigating an increasingly complex leave management landscape, making it harder to ensure compliance and provide employees with clear benefit information,” said Bryon E. Bass, CLMS, CEO, DMEC. “DMEC AbsenceNavigator™ streamlines benefit coordination and reduces administrative burden while delivering best estimate paid parental leave calculations. This allows employers to provide employees with the clarity they need to plan their leaves with confidence.”

Chengchen Li, FSA, CLMS, founder and CEO, Penguin Benefits, agreed. Li has personally experienced the challenges of navigating parental leave options, a struggle that inspired her to create Penguin Benefits to help employers deliver clear, actionable information about leave options.

“Employees want basic questions answered before they go on leave, including what is their acceptable duration for leave, what they will be paid, and the process for filing benefit claims,” Li explained in a DMEC @Work magazine article. “Some employees spend months researching answers to these questions before their leaves start; others don’t find answers until they are on leave; and many are surprised by waiting periods, concurrent benefits, and the need to file disability claims before exhausting bonding benefits.”

DMEC AbsenceNavigator™ was built with Penguin Benefits’ advanced algorithms and a user-friendly interface to provide leave details such as statutory requirements, paid benefits, and job protections for leave entitlements. It will be available to DMEC employer members on March 17, and it can be previewed and tested during the 2025 DMEC Compliance Conference in Columbus, Ohio, April 14-17.

About DMEC

DMEC provides focused education, knowledge, and networking for absence and disability professionals. It serves more than 20,000 professionals in the U.S. and Canada. DMEC delivers trusted strategies, tools, and resources to minimize lost work time, improve workforce productivity, and maintain compliant absence and disability programs. Visit www.dmec.org for more information. Contact: Heather Grimshaw, hgrimshaw@dmec.org, 800.789.3623, ext.129

About Penguin Benefits

Penguin Benefits was launched in 2020 by a working parent who found it difficult to navigate complex parental leave options and wanted to help other families access their benefits with ease. Today, Penguin Benefits’ cutting-edge SaaS platform demystifies parental leave benefits for expecting, adoptive, and foster parents. Available in all 50 states. Visit www.penguin-benefits.com for more information.