Over half of HR professionals are unsure how much employee absence costs their organization. This unsettling statistic was revealed in our survey conducted in June at the 2012 SHRM Annual Conference & Exposition in Atlanta.
Let’s think about that. Half of these professionals aren’t sure of the costs, so therefore, executives don’t know when money is literally walking out the door. Plus, the price tag on this problem is $100 billion.
With ever-changing FMLA laws and rising temporary personnel costs, absence needs to be properly managed to control costs and ensure compliance.
Survey Shows Absence Costs Still Unknown
HR Conference Wrap Up
Over the past two weeks, OCI has attended IHRIM’s HRMS Strategies Conference, the Louisiana State SHRM Conference and DMEC’s FMLA/ADAAA Employer Compliance Conference. Now we’re getting ready to exhibit at the Gulf Coast Symposium this week. At each conference, we’re seeing recurring trends and business needs.
Not surprisingly, a main concern of HR professionals and Leave Managers is navigating and staying compliant with ever-changing FMLA laws. What is surprising is how few solutions were offered at the events we attended to help Leave Managers with their FMLA compliance issues.
Ch-ch-ch-Changes....in FMLA
Recently, the state of Tennessee amended *TCA, Title 8, Chapter 33, Part 1* regarding employees in military service. This may mean absolutely nothing to you. But, if you have employees in the state of Tennessee, you need to know what the amendment was and how it affects your employees’ leave eligibility.
In a time of frequent legislative changes, varying court rulings, and ever-evolving state and federal leave laws, it can be confusing for a Leave Specialist or HR Manager to keep track of which laws apply their employees.
The Missing Piece: Data Integration
Recently, [we discussed](http://web.oci.com/blog/bid/142928/Ch-ch-ch-Changes-in-FMLA) how a good leave management system can help you put together the pieces of managing absence to view a clear picture of your company’s leave landscape.
There are some leave systems out there that can provide you with the tools necessary to track FMLA and direct some of the day-to-day activities of managing leave. But most are missing a key piece of the leave management puzzle: data integration.
As most leave managers know, managing absence in an organization isn’t limited to FMLA.
Looking for Answers: OCI Leave Survey
At the annual SHRM conference in Atlanta, GA, OCI hosted our first-ever survey focusing on leave management. We set out to understand some of the issues facing employers with regard to absence, how important technology is to our human resources clients, and gain some insights into the issues on the mind of leave specialists.
The response at SHRM was very strong! We had several hundred booth visitors, many of whom took the survey.
Twitter for Human Resources & Leave Managers
At the recent [DMEC conference](http://web.oci.com/blog/bid/154112/DMEC-Conference-Recap-Leveraging-Technology-to-Manage-FMLA-Leaves), we had the opportunity to talk with a lot of people we’ve met ‘virtually’ but never before in person. It was exciting to put a face to the Twitter handle and make off-line connections.
However, in one conversation, we met someone who we hadn’t met online.
Coming Soon… OCI’s Leave Management Survey
Managing absence effectively has become an HR professional’s top concern. With ever-changing leave laws, multiple employee leave types andskyrocketing costs, all while trying to offer competitive benefits to employees, HR has a lot of pieces of a difficult puzzle to manage.
To better understand the puzzle of leave management that HR professionals are facing today, we went directly to the source. YOU: the HR professional. OCI conducted a survey of 179 attendees at the annual SHRM conference in Atlanta, GA.
Want to Meet Up?
OCI has an exciting fall ahead of us with a lot of HR events on our calendar.