2023 Healthcare and Wellness Issue

Healthcare and Wellness

November/December 2023

This issue of @Work magazine offers suggestions for how employers can encourage appropriate use of available leave to avoid and address burnout and ensure whole-person health, guidance for designing return-to-work pathways that minimize employee stress, practical approaches that help one employer support absence and disability managers, and more.

The CEO’s Desk

Making Mental Health an Organizational Priority

Employers can help ensure that employees on leave return to work (RTW) as soon as they’re able to do so by building effective processes and acknowledging leave as an expected part of employment. Read more.

Features

Returning from a Leave is Not Like Returning from PTO

Employers can help ensure that employees on leave return to work (RTW) as soon as they’re able to do so by building an effective process and acknowledging leave as part of the employment process. Learn how formal RTW programs can help employees return with a stronger feeling of connection. Read more.

Managing Leave in the Era of Burnout and Quiet Quitting

Employers are starting to see the impact of burnout in their leave and time-off programs. To manage absences, including requests for intermittent leaves, employers are encouraged to respond with flexibility and empathy through programs and policies, culture, and more. Read more.

Spotlight Articles

Program Showcase

Supporting a Resilient Workforce with Cross-Functional Collaboration

As more employers recognize the link between employee health and the bottom line, they seek programs that prioritize safety, healthy work design, and injury and illness protection. This type of holistic approach to worker health can help employers identify and understand trends and deploy targeted interventions. Read more.

Compliance Showcase

Using Compassionate Tools for Engagement

In addition to fielding more accommodation requests that are increasingly complex, integrated absence management teams are reporting increased emotional intensity from employees. University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics is tapping new resources to help team members refuel. Read more.

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.

Embracing a New Mindset to Safeguard Employee Health

We know the influence employers have when it comes to employee health and wellness. That knowledge informs benefit decisions and culture design as well as organizational absence and disability policies. Read more.

Optimizing Technology in Absence and Disability Management

Optimizing technology to streamline processes and improve compliance is a hot topic that comes with a hefty price tag. As more employers use technology to streamline absence and disability management processes, they must be strategic to avoid unintended legal consequences. Read more.

How to Create Mentally Healthier Work Environments

In a recent DMEC podcast, Paula Allen, global leader and senior vice president of research and client insights for TELUS Health, offers guidance and practical tips to help employers support mentally and physically healthy work environments. She shares additional context in this Q&A with DMEC. Read more.

DMEC Podcast

Could Well-Intentioned Efforts to Protect Employees with Mental Health Issues Hurt More Than Help?

Employers can create mentally healthy workplaces. One key component is talking with employees about potential solutions to help reduce workload or stress instead of acting independently to protect them; actions that could be misconstrued and cause more harm than good. In this episode Paula Allen, global leader and senior vice president of Research and Client Insights for TELUS Health, offers insights and tips to help identify and mitigate mental health risks in the workplace. Listen in.

DMEC Podcast

PFML Puts States in Absence & Disability Management Business

It is increasingly important for employers to participate in policy conversations about state paid family and medical leave implementation to ensure their voices are heard, says Tracy Marshall, director of Colorado’s Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program (FAMLI). Listen in for details about FAMLI, perspectives shared during a roundtable discussion Marshall facilitated during the 2023 DMEC Annual Conference, and more. Listen in.

Columns

Absence Matters

Reversing Course

How can employers assess environmental issues that affect managers’ health and design a culture where managers are expected to take time off? Could encouraging leaders to model a new way of working that protects physical as well as mental health be the first step? Read more.

Integrated Absence Management

Consider Diversity When Designing Benefits

Benefit offerings that address the diverse needs of the workforce support equity, inclusion, and belonging. How can employers recognize and incorporate diversity to tailor strategic benefit plans to the unique needs of diverse groups of employees? Read more.

Engaging Today’s Workforce

Why Employers Should Support Employee Health and Well-Being

Data shows that one in four employees is considering leaving their jobs because they are in toxic work environments, their jobs negatively affect their mental health, and they feel undervalued at work. How can employers turn this tide? Read more.

Employer Solutions

Injury Prevention: Finding the Right Fit for the Job

Planning for necessary learning curves is important for new hires, and ensuring they can perform essential functions is keeps them safe yet a high percentage of work-related injuries occur during the first year of employment. Learn what employers can do to mitigate this issue. Read more.

Common Sense Compliance

Related Risks with Employee Health and Wellness Programs

As more employers embrace wellness programs, they must also be aware of compliance-related risks. Get a few commonsense suggestions for how employers can encourage employee health and wellness and avoid legal risk. Read more.

Featured Case

Undue Hardship Defense Under the ADA

Do you know what constitutes an undue hardship when an employee asks for an accommodation that falls under the Americans with Disabilities Act? Legal experts encourage employers to be careful in their evaluations and creative with suggested alternatives before using this defense. Read more.

Leave Technology

Budgeting for Leave and Accommodations Technology

What’s the best way for leave and disability managers to advocate for a human resources solution so they gain the buy-in needed for the software they want and need? Read more.

The Disabled Workforce

Requests for a “Boss-ectomy”

Psychological issues related to an employee’s ability to work with a certain person or supervisor can represent a true disability. It may entitle an employee to leave or accommodations covered under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act. Read more.

DMEC RESOURCES

DMEC News

Don’t miss a resource or a newly-released DMEC product or service! This issue includes information about the new DMEC AbsenceExemplar™ Benchmarking Dashboard (Full), the 2024 DMEC Virtual Mental Health Conference, and register now for the 2024 DMEC Employer FMLA/ADA Employer Compliance Conference. Read more.

Legislative Updates

Check out the latest federal, state, and local compliance updates on the DMEC Legislative Updates blog. Recent posts cover updates to Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave Program,  Washington Paid Family and Medical Leave Program, Sick and Safe Time Ordinance for Bloomington, Minnesota; and more. Read more.

Be sure to follow DMEC on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn for additional insight and up-to-date news.

Continue the Conversation

Share insights and ideas about the Workplace Mental Health issue with other DMEC members in the DMECommunities Mental Health Group. DMEC’s online networking groups give you the opportunity to connect with industry peers, ask/answer questions, share resources, and seek feedback. Get started.