DMEC News: July 2023
Check out the latest DMEC resources including the DMEC AbsenceExemplar™ Benchmarking Dashboard, Building a Return-to-Work Program Microcredential Course, and our manager’s conversation guide for presenteeism.
Tag @work magazine article
The Disabled Workforce: Evaluating “Reasonable” Accommodations
Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act requires employers to engage in a timely, good faith interactive process and provide reasonable accommodation. What, then, makes an accommodation objectively reasonable?
Leave Technology: One Source of Truth
If companies use outbound feeds and allow data to flow into leave management technology, employers can simplify the leave process, improve compliance, and enhance the employee experience by creating one source of truth.
Featured Case: “100% Healed” and Maximum Leave Policies
Most courts agree that inflexible policies discriminate against people with disabilities, yet employers still have and enforce them. And some employers are not aware that these policies may violate the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Common Sense Compliance: A Comprehensive Approach
It is difficult to navigate the patchwork of federal, state, and local leave and accommodation laws in addition to employer-sponsored leaves, and it is in the best interests of all parties to simplify the ability to identify and use entitlements and benefits. Taking an integrated approach helps accomplish this.
The CEO’s Desk: RTW Programs
Return-to-work programs benefit organizations in myriad ways including enhanced employee experience that extends beyond those who need accommodations or request leaves of absence. They enable you to take a holistic approach to a foundational aspect of what we do — keeping employees at work or returning employees to productive and gainful employment.
Employer Solutions: Risk Management and Employee Benefits
While risk managers are keenly focused on workplace safety and workers’ compensation, it’s important for them to have a working knowledge of all benefits to ensure employees can access available benefits. Human resources professionals and risk managers should work together to support employees with job-related injuries and nonwork-related conditions.
Engaging Today’s Workforce: Navigating the Leave Landscape
As the paid family and medical leave (PFML) landscape changes, employers should look at the needs of their workforce by location and demographics and reassess their leave programs and benefits, which can be a meaningful retention tool.
Program Showcase: Improper Medical Documentation
When faced with litigation, employers can support decisions about leaves of absence through detailed and complete case management documentation that is based on a thorough analysis of comprehensive data. However, many integrated absence management teams that are responsible for keeping official notes on employee medical files lack formal training in proper documentation protocols.
Time for Change: Employers Can Help Turn the Tide with Mental Health Awareness and Treatment
Kristin Tugman, PhD, CRC, LPC, vice president of health and productivity and holistic wellness, Prudential, answers questions following the presentation “Mental Health at Work: Employee Rights and Employer Responsibilities” at the 2023 DMEC FMLA/ADA Employer Compliance Conference.
