@work
2022 Technology & Integration Issue
January-February 2022
Finding the balance between optimizing technology to improve efficiencies and ensuring employees feel heard and cared for is increasingly important for employers. This issue of @Work magazine shares guidance for how employers can select and integrate technology to support the work of absence professionals, streamline leave administration tasks, and expand access to health and wellness offerings while creating more time for personal and meaningful interactions with employees.
The CEO's Desk
Technology is an integral part of our lives. It’s a valuable tool that can improve efficiency and help you find time for meaningful interactions with employees who need guidance. However, this issue highlights the need to avoid relying solely on technology as it won’t serve you — or your employees well — without a human touch.
Feature Articles
Employers are laser-focused on increasing efficiency and employee engagement. Technology can help achieve these goals by creating streamlined processes for leaves of absence, making pertinent information more readily available and digestible for employees, enabling the integration of data and processes, addressing behavioral health issues, and enhancing productivity tracking and reporting.
Achieving equilibrium between tried-and-true best practices and emerging industry trends in integrated disability and absence management can be challenging. Layers of complexity create friction so it is useful to understand how to adopt an emerging trend while maintaining established processes.
Spotlight Articles
Program Showcase
Electronic performance monitoring, which helps employers observe, record, and analyze job performance, is increasingly popular, and can help managers assess staff needs as well as improve productivity. However, employers should consider potential personnel costs and adjust monitoring approaches to avoid or mitigate these issues.
Employer Perspective
Like many healthcare organizations, Temple Health did not have an established tradition of remote work at the onset of the pandemic. That paradigm shifted overnight when, within two weeks, non-patient-facing staff from legal, technical, administrative, information technology, and human resources departments, was required to work remotely.
Program Showcase
Most disability cases — occupational and nonoccupational — resolve normally without intervention. But 10% to 15% of cases need additional attention to avoid becoming long-term claims. Organizations have developed tools — from simple paper-and-pencil lists to artificial intelligence (AI) applications — to identify potential outliers early in the process.
Expanded Perspectives:
@Work To Share
DMEC provides the following @Work magazine articles and podcast episodes to offer additional perspectives on and increase awareness of integrated absence management trends and challenges. The resources — available to members and nonmembers — can be shared with your colleagues and through social media channels.
2022 Trends
It is fair to assume that the employment disruption we have experienced during the last couple of years will continue in 2022. But with two years of experience under our belts, we should be able to anticipate some of the twists and turns ahead. One common thread amid the uncertainty we have faced is that the role of absence management professionals continues to expand in scope and influence.
Some employers are required to enact a mandatory vaccination policy for COVID-19, and others are choosing to do so. In this environment, employers question whether they can be held liable for vaccine side effects if they mandate the vaccine, while lawsuits have also been filed against employers for failing to protect employees and their family members from the virus.
DMEC Podcast
While there’s a common belief that electronic performance monitoring (EPM) can improve productivity, this podcast provides a human resources perspective on the technology while weighing its benefits and detriments. EPM can have significant benefits for employers “when used with a degree of balance,” explains Coy Hillstead, EdD, DMEC member, in this episode.
Columns
Absence Matters
Technology and innovation are critical to building and maintaining an efficient and compliant claims practice. The automation of simple eligibility determinations, communications, and integrated processes can be a game changer for the health and longevity of a successful program.
Integrated Absence Management
The shift toward remote work has created more flexibility for employees and opportunities to work for companies outside their local areas. This rapidly changing workforce creates a need for continual education for new employees and ongoing enrollment options.
Engaging Today’s Workforce
72% of employees say their health, safety, and protection, as well as that of their families, is more important than ever before. Technology innovations such as telehealth, which enable employees to access care from anywhere, help them meet their health goals.
Employer Solutions
The need for leave is purely human. Yet the process isn’t always as human-centered as we’d like it to be. As employers outsource their disability and leave administration, they need to assess whether their vendor partners combine predictive analytics with automation to ensure employee leaves are handled with clarity as well as compassion.
Common Sense Compliance:
Technology solutions can make remote training more engaging, interactive, and even entertaining. Emerging services and technologies help employers manage an increasingly remote workforce securely and ensure compliance with federal, state, and local laws.
Featured Case
FMLA regulations require employees to provide notice of leave to employers. Those seeking leave for the first time do not need to reference the FMLA but must provide sufficient information to demonstrate it is necessary. Recent court cases illustrate the need for employers to reevaluate leave request processes and provide clear guidance on criteria that substantiates requests.
Leave Technology
Several software solutions have been introduced to help employers manage the complexities of leave and accommodation requests. Initially catering to larger employers, vendors soon recognized a need to create solutions for small- and medium-sized businesses with fewer than 1,000 employees that were affordable and simple to operationalize.
The Disabled Workforce
Up to 11% of employees in the U.S. are applying for vaccine exemptions, and many employers do not have the knowledge or capacity to manage the volume of requests. While some organizations will outsource this work, many won’t have that luxury. However, it’s possible to leverage the technology on hand to improve efficiency.
@Work
@Work™ magazine is the official publication of the Disability Management Employer Coalition. Copyright© 2024. Disability Management Employer Coalition (DMEC). All rights reserved.
Editorial Staff
Editor: Heather Grimshaw
Editorial Advisory Group Members: Linda Croushore, Rebecca Fisco, Jenny Haykin, Terri Morris, Fred Schott, Jessica Thornton, and Lori Vickory
Editorial Policy
The goal of @Work is to present industry and Association news, highlight member achievements, and promote the exchange of specialized professional information. The statements and opinions expressed herein are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Association, its staff, board of directors, or its editors. Likewise, the appearance of advertisers does not constitute an endorsement of products or services featured in this, past, or subsequent issues of this publication. DMEC makes no representations, warranties, or assurances as to accuracy of the information contained in the articles, and no content herein is legal or tax advice. Consult appropriate professionals for legal or tax advice.
