Let’s face it. Managing employee leave isn’t the most glamorous aspect of HR or workforce management. But it’s certainly among the most challenging. The legal and regulatory backdrop to leave management is complex, and it varies based on factors that range from where you do business to the size of your company. You feel as if the rules are ever-changing. It’s like doing business in an amusement park fun house; it’s a challenge to keep your footing, hard to know if what you’re seeing is real, and difficult to get a firm hold on the rail to help lead you through the maze.
Are You Keeping Pace with Developments in Leave Management?
Looking for Absence Management Software? Skip the RFP and Project Plan.
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.
Three Impacts of Absence on Employee Engagement
Keeping employees engaged is a task that plagues many HR professionals, and for good reason. First, it’s tough to measure. And second, it’s tough to improve.
At Optis, we feel the number one way that employees are disengaged is by being absent. Those who are on an extended leave or are chronically out of the office (for non-work reasons) are typically not examples of engaged employees due to major life changes or ongoing ailments.
But, it doesn’t stop there. Employee absence affects engagement beyond the employee who is recovering, vacationing, on sabbatical, or abusing the system. How?