Managing leave can be a challenge for HR teams—and the workload is only growing as more employees request time away. Our 2025 State of Leave and Accommodations report highlights a critical reality: how HR handles leave can strengthen or strain the employer-employee relationship.
To better understand the evolving landscape of leave, we surveyed 1,200 respondents, including employees and HR leaders. Our research sheds light on why employees are requesting leave, the strategies that make administration more effective, and the biggest challenges HR teams face today. Below, we’ve outlined key trends, but we encourage you to download the full report for a deeper dive into the data.
An Unrelenting Tide of Leave Requests
Leave requests continued to climb in 2024, with 57% of HR managers reporting an increase—the third consecutive year of growth. Among those seeing a rise, more than half (53%) experienced an increase of 21% or more.
When requesting leave, employees most often turned to their managers, followed closely by HR. Fewer employees used third-party providers or self-service portals to initiate their leave. This highlights an opportunity for HR teams to promote a platform that can streamline the intake process.
With leave requests on the rise, many employers expanded their paid leave benefits. More than half introduced new policies, with paid parental leave and paid medical leave leading the way.
As caseloads grow, HR teams continue to face administrative hurdles. The biggest challenges reported were compliance with the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and managing intermittent leave.
For more information on the rise in leave requests, read our 2025 State of Leave and Accommodations Report.
Injuries, Illnesses, and Mental Health Conditions Drive Leave Requests
The top reasons employees requested leave was injury and illness recovery. Up next? To manage mental health challenges — the top driver of accommodations requests. The prevalence of mental health issues as drivers of both leave and accommodations requests underscores the growing importance of emotional well-being in the workplace.
Other high-ranking drivers of leave included: caring for an aging parent or relative; caring for a sick or injured child; bonding with a new child. The frequency with which employees request leave to care for others highlights the importance of caregiving policies. From parental leave benefits to caregiving accommodations, benefits that ease the burden of caring for loved ones are incredibly impactful.
Explore our 2025 State of Leave and Accommodations Report to learn more about the factors driving leave requests.
The Impact of a Poor Leave Experience
Some employees may be quite comfortable requesting leave. They may be taking it to welcome a new child or undergo run-of-the-mill surgery. Others, however, may need leave for a reason they’d rather not share. Someone may need treatment for a condition that embarrasses them. Or they may need time off to care for someone with whom they share a complicated relationship.
When the leave process is met with delays, poor communication, or a lack of support, the employer-employee relationship can suffer. Employees who reported a poor leave experience encountered a range of challenges, Here are the most common challenges employees encountered when leave was mismanaged:
- The process was confusing or unclear: 46%
- I was contacted too much during my leave: 33%
- My pay was miscalculated and I wasn’t paid correctly: 31%
- I experienced delays in getting building or systems access restored: 22%
- I wasn’t able to get accommodations I needed after my return: 20%
A poor leave experience isn’t just frustrating for employees. It creates lasting consequences for organizations. About half of employees who experienced a poor leave experience said they were less loyal to their company as a result. And 42% said such an experience caused them to lose motivation.
Several survey respondents shared their personal experiences:
“It was a very difficult process and not done efficiently by my employer.”
“It was horrible, HR suggested quitting my job.”
Discover what else employees had to say about their negative leave experience in our 2025 report.
How a Positive Leave Experience Drives Loyalty and Performance
When the leave experience goes smoothly, it creates the opposite effect of a poor experience. Employees who said they experienced a positive leave process also reported feeling more motivated and productive upon returning to work.
Those who approved of their leave experience reported several positive elements:
- My manager was supportive and helpful: 56%
- I was paid the correct amount: 53%
- My HR team was supportive and helpful: 50%
- The process was clear and I knew what to do: 48%
When asked to put their experience in their own words, employees left favorable comments concerning their leave process:
- The process of requesting leave was simple and quick, it felt good to get back to work when it was over.
- I had a great leave experience. The most memorable part was how kind HR was. I genuinely felt like they cared about me. They took the time to explain everything so well and were extremely patient.
A well-managed leave experience strengthens the employer-employee relationship—and the benefits go both ways. About half of employees with a positive leave experience said they were more motivated and productive when they returned to work. And 47% said they felt more loyal to their employer.
My leave of absence is a spur of a moment call. It’s when my health knocks me to the ground. When my manager is supportive, it is less stressful.
See how a positive leave experience supercharged the employee experience in our 2025 report.
Employers and Employees Call for Modern Solutions
Keeping up with the growing demand for leaves of absence is no small task. HR managers face a range of challenges, from staying compliant with the FMLA to meeting employee demand for generous leave policies.
HR professionals identified several possible solutions to address these challenges. The top two? Better technology to manage leave and less administrative work. Respondents recognized that software is essential to their leave management, making the process easier and more streamlined.
Employees also demonstrated a desire for technology. Speaking of their own experiences, many mentioned a desire for digital tools and platforms that simplify and anonymize the request process.
“It would have been nice to handle my leave on an app not the phone.”
“I think the leave process would be easier if I could apply from anywhere. Then you could get your leave status more easily with mobile notifications.”
Elevate Your Leave Program with AbsenceSoft
When your organization partners with a leave management platform like AbsenceSoft, you gain the tools needed to deliver a positive, compliant, and efficient leave experience. With AbsenceSoft, you’ll have access to:
- A self-service portal where employees can submit leave requests quickly and discreetly.
- A dashboard that allows employees to track the status of their requests.
- A platform that centralizes communications, making them effortless and efficient.
- The AbsenceSoft Compliance Engine™, which tracks over 200 laws — including the FMLA.
- A software that allows HR teams to handle requests more efficiently and respond to requesting employees more quickly.
- Technology that leverages intelligent automation, making the leave certification process fully standardized across all employee groups.
Ready to explore what better leave management could look like? Let us show you how AbsenceSoft can help. Book a demo today.