Tag @work magazine issue

The process of integrating disability and absence management has been called a journey and, as authors note throughout this issue of @Work magazine, it is one well worth taking! This approach, a hallmark of the Disability Management Employer Coalition (DMEC) since its inception, helps employers comply with an increasing number of (and nuances to) laws across the U.S.

There is increasing pressure on employers to invest more strategically in the mental health and well-being of their employees, and this issue of DMEC’s @Work magazine includes guidance on high-level strategy as well as practical implementation.

This issue of @Work magazine illustrates the need for professionals to track leave laws (and their variations across the country) while taking a creative approach to accommodation requests to ensure compliance and help employees stay at work when possible and return to work when it is safe to do so.

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.

Ongoing challenges with Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance highlight the need for and value of education and training. And passage of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), which mirrors some but not all of the ADA requirements, makes it even more important for employers to ensure compliance and support employees. This issue includes insights into the differences between the ADA and PWFA, ways employers can encourage stay-at-work options and faster return to work for employees, and guidance for getting to a “yes” with all types of accommodation requests.

It is becoming harder to decipher where absence management ends and disability management begins, which is one (of many) reasons employers should consider an integrated approach. This issue of @Work magazine showcases practical examples of how integrated absence management streamlines operations, saves employers money, enhances the employee experience, and helps support employees in their recovery and return to work.

The conversation about workplace mental health is expanding from a focus on treatment and support for mental illness to designing environments that protect and promote mental health and wellness. This issue of @Work magazine offers tips and tools to help employers reassess how they approach, invest in, and manage workplace mental health. With examples of successful employer approaches, suggestions for expediting safe return-to-work timelines, and more, there is abundant guidance on an age-old issue that threatens employee productivity, morale, and livelihood.

Absence and disability compliance continues to challenge the savviest professionals as the number of new and modified laws expands, covered relationships shift, and more is required from DEIB initiatives. Gain practical perspectives and implementation guidance in this issue of @Work magazine, which includes articles on how to navigate paid family and medical leaves, whether employers need short-term disability insurance as paid leave programs emerge, how to make eligibility determinations, and more.

What holds absence management professionals back from using technology to automate manual processes that leave them more vulnerable to compliance risks? The latest issue of @Work explores this question and illustrates the benefits to automation with examples of employer successes and return on investment, practical technologies that help employees stay at work and streamline return-to-work policies, and more.

Integrated absence management professionals are embracing their role in enhancing employee health and wellness in ways that influence disability claims, absences, and return to work. This issue of @Work delves into the return-on-investment component to healthcare and wellness efforts and the practical realities of implementation that have a powerful effect on organizational recruitment and retention efforts, employee morale, productivity, profitability, and more.