The 2022 DMEC Emerging Leader Award winners have a refreshing perspective on leadership that focuses on service, the way managers who act as guides build confidence and encourage independence, and the importance of showing up for others. Their stories offer a glimpse into work that prompted their nominations for the annual award.
What worked before as an effective accommodation might need to be reviewed and reevaluated to ensure it is effective and, most importantly, up to date. As the world of work has opened up for employees with disabilities through remote and hybrid work, we should be reviewing cases and looking for accommodation solutions that are made possible through enhanced technology, flexible scheduling, and policy modifications.
While leave management audits help diagnose issues, they are detailed and therefore require additional time, budget, and external support. In some instances, the best place to begin — even before an audit is considered — is to go undercover and evaluate each component of your absence program and its administration through a secret shopper operation.
The diversity, equity, and inclusion strategy is a critical extension of Sedgwick’s commitment to environmental, social, and governance initiatives. Creating and supporting employee resource groups or colleague resource groups — as they’re known at Sedgwick — is also a way to achieve the organization’s caring counts philosophy that everyone deserves to be welcomed, valued, respected, and heard
Pacific Gas and Electric Company has a rich history of supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion that dates back to the 1970s. One secret to success has been 14 employee resource groups (ERGs) and engineering networking groups with more than 10,000 co-worker members.
So much in the world of absence management has changed, including an employer’s right to test employees for marijuana. Ten years ago, we could all rely on zero tolerance and drug testing policies when it came to what we tested for and when, particularly with regard to pre-employment testing. That is no longer the case as most states allow some type of marijuana use.
In addition to monitoring and communicating statutory PFL and PFML leaves (as well as differences between programs for employers that operate in multiple states), absence professionals must also consider equity and fairness (perceived and real) across employee populations. The relatively new patchwork of laws creates unintentional disparities in the amount of pay, eligibility, definition of family members, and length of leave. Taking a holistic view is important.
The 11th annual DMEC Employer Leave Management Survey white paper, published April 15, provides context for an increasingly complex industry that affects all aspects of an organization’s success. The survey has grown in size and scope since 2011 and illustrates a growing recognition that integrated absence management programs mitigate costly compliance risks.
Determining a “reasonable accommodation” is more complicated than ever, due to ongoing concerns about COVID-19, long COVID, and a dizzying number of state-specific requirements for COVID-19 vaccine accommodations and supplemental paid sick leave. We must brace for ongoing COVID conversations — considering millions of people are affected by long COVID which may be keeping more than one million employees out of work.
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.
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Organization
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Organization
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Organization Position
Organization
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Fusce quis arcu placerat, condimentum nisl vel, mollis metus. Etiam lobortis, libero eget blandit pretium, augue ipsum pellentesque lorem, scelerisque aliquet magna enim non ligula. Proin ac imperdiet augue, non auctor ex. Aliquam felis felis, ultricies venenatis dapibus quis, elementum eget magna. Aliquam erat volutpat. Phasellus felis ex, semper vitae erat a, consequat ullamcorper leo. Donec mattis lobortis tincidunt. Nulla pulvinar ac nisl eget ornare. Aliquam elementum elit sit amet dignissim tempus. Ut sed ante vitae eros ultrices porta.
Organization Position
Organization
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Fusce quis arcu placerat, condimentum nisl vel, mollis metus. Etiam lobortis, libero eget blandit pretium, augue ipsum pellentesque lorem, scelerisque aliquet magna enim non ligula. Proin ac imperdiet augue, non auctor ex. Aliquam felis felis, ultricies venenatis dapibus quis, elementum eget magna. Aliquam erat volutpat. Phasellus felis ex, semper vitae erat a, consequat ullamcorper leo. Donec mattis lobortis tincidunt. Nulla pulvinar ac nisl eget ornare. Aliquam elementum elit sit amet dignissim tempus. Ut sed ante vitae eros ultrices porta.
Organization Position
Organization
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Fusce quis arcu placerat, condimentum nisl vel, mollis metus. Etiam lobortis, libero eget blandit pretium, augue ipsum pellentesque lorem, scelerisque aliquet magna enim non ligula. Proin ac imperdiet augue, non auctor ex. Aliquam felis felis, ultricies venenatis dapibus quis, elementum eget magna. Aliquam erat volutpat. Phasellus felis ex, semper vitae erat a, consequat ullamcorper leo. Donec mattis lobortis tincidunt. Nulla pulvinar ac nisl eget ornare. Aliquam elementum elit sit amet dignissim tempus. Ut sed ante vitae eros ultrices porta.
Organization Position
Organization
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Fusce quis arcu placerat, condimentum nisl vel, mollis metus. Etiam lobortis, libero eget blandit pretium, augue ipsum pellentesque lorem, scelerisque aliquet magna enim non ligula. Proin ac imperdiet augue, non auctor ex. Aliquam felis felis, ultricies venenatis dapibus quis, elementum eget magna. Aliquam erat volutpat. Phasellus felis ex, semper vitae erat a, consequat ullamcorper leo. Donec mattis lobortis tincidunt. Nulla pulvinar ac nisl eget ornare. Aliquam elementum elit sit amet dignissim tempus. Ut sed ante vitae eros ultrices porta.
VP, Disability & Leave Operations
BROADSPIRE
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VP, Government Segment Business Solutions
AFLAC
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Fusce quis arcu placerat, condimentum nisl vel, mollis metus. Etiam lobortis, libero eget blandit pretium, augue ipsum pellentesque lorem, scelerisque aliquet magna enim non ligula. Proin ac imperdiet augue, non auctor ex. Aliquam felis felis, ultricies venenatis dapibus quis, elementum eget magna. Aliquam erat volutpat. Phasellus felis ex, semper vitae erat a, consequat ullamcorper leo. Donec mattis lobortis tincidunt. Nulla pulvinar ac nisl eget ornare. Aliquam elementum elit sit amet dignissim tempus. Ut sed ante vitae eros ultrices porta.
Chief Strategy Officer
ABSENCESOFT
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Fusce quis arcu placerat, condimentum nisl vel, mollis metus. Etiam lobortis, libero eget blandit pretium, augue ipsum pellentesque lorem, scelerisque aliquet magna enim non ligula. Proin ac imperdiet augue, non auctor ex. Aliquam felis felis, ultricies venenatis dapibus quis, elementum eget magna. Aliquam erat volutpat. Phasellus felis ex, semper vitae erat a, consequat ullamcorper leo. Donec mattis lobortis tincidunt. Nulla pulvinar ac nisl eget ornare. Aliquam elementum elit sit amet dignissim tempus. Ut sed ante vitae eros ultrices porta.
