Did you catch the article in the August 12 issue of Business Insurance Magazine, [“Total Absence Management Helps Employers Control Costs”](http://www.businessinsurance.com/article/20130811/NEWS05/308119991) by Sheena Harrison? The article describes how integrated disability management programs that were developed years ago for large organizations are now being modified for mid-market and smaller employers. Midsize employers are seeking to integrate their non-occupational and occupational leave data and begin developing a total absence management program. Tom Parry, President of CEO of the [Integrated Benefits Institute](http://www.ibiweb.org/) weighs in on the issue of absence management in the article,
**“Larger employers tend to have what we might call more “slack” in their systems…they have more people that might be able to fill in and do jobs and that kind of thing. Smaller employers don’t have that luxury, so absence and poor health really hit small employers big time.”**
With increasing leave laws it’s no doubt that mid-size employers are feeling the squeeze with several absence related costs – overtime pay, employee engagement, staffing and scheduling, etc. We noticed this trend in the absence management marketplace as well, and as a response, expanded our current LeaveXpert product and created three editions, Essential, Plus and Unlimited. These three editions tailor to the business needs of small, mid-market and large organizations, and we showcased these editions at the DMEC Conference in Atlanta this week.
These new editions allow Leave Specialists to go online at [LeaveXpert.com](https://www.leavexpert.com/) and sign up immediately. Instead of having long meetings with project stakeholders and drawn out implementations, Leave Specialists can start tracking FMLA leave in the cloud today with our free 30 day trial. Then, they can build upon LeaveXpert by integrating short term and long term disability, and workers’ comp data if needed, on their own time schedule. This allows Leave Specialists to start tracking leave today, and begin to get a handle on leave and see absence trends, instead of waiting weeks or months for a product to go live.
Thanks to everyone who stopped by our booth at the DMEC Conference, and a big thanks to all of the DMEC volunteers, and conference coordinators. We had a great time, and enjoyed seeing our customers and industry partners. Also, congratulations to our iPad winner!
*Optis President, Archie Anderson announcing Optis’ iPad winner!*
Looking for Absence Management Software? Skip the RFP and Project Plan.
