Highlights from the 2023 Disability Management Employer Coalition (DMEC) Annual Conference
The AbsenceSoft team was excited to join the 2023 Disability Management Employer Coalition (DMEC) Annual Conference in San Diego this past week! Participating in the DMEC conference gives our team an opportunity to connect with both new and familiar faces in the disability management and leave community and stay up to date on the latest trends.
Our Chief Strategy Officer, Seth Turner took the stage not once but twice – first, to discuss the world of leave data and reporting. Then, he also joined a panel to discuss the ins and outs of a successful software implementation. Our VP of Industry Solutions, Jenn Limon also shared with attendees a valuable perspective on leave as a benefit and its impact on the employee experience.
The event was fantastic from start to finish, and our team helped educate attendees, and learned a lot as well. Here are the highlights:
Companies are starting to leverage leave as a benefit
To kick off the discussion on Tuesday, Limon spoke about the changing landscape of leave management. Managing leave has historically been a stressful, time-consuming, and complicated process for both leave managers and employees.
Limon shared how employee experience has become a top priority for many organizations, and strategies for improving that experience through robust leave offerings and well-managed leave programs. It’s clear that more companies are becoming aware of the importance of a quality leave program as part of their benefits package. As this trend continues it will be even more important for employers to think of ways to improve their leave programs.
As access to paid leave grows, the legislative landscape gets more complex
Many sessions and conversations focused on the legislative landscape around leave. States across the US are adding laws to support different types of leave including paid parental leaves, with the most recent being:
- Colorado: Family & Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI)
- Delaware: Healthy Delaware Families Act
- New Hampshire: Paid Family & Medical Leave
- Oregon: Paid Oregon Leave
Fourteen states plus the District of Columbia currently require private-sector employers to provide paid sick leave. This is great news, but it means that managing employees in these states will get more difficult as each state has its own unique guidelines. Having an in-house leave management software can help your leave managers juggle leaves in all 50 states, with ease. When software is kept 100% complaint, your team doesn’t need to worry about keeping up with every new leave law.
More employers are choosing to manage leave in-house
One thing our team heard loud and clear was how many organizations are looking to build their leave programs in-house. Many conversations focused on the growing importance of employee experience, and ways organizations can offer more robust leave programs to attract and retain talent.
If you’d like to learn more about taking your own leave program in-house, you can check out our guide:
An HR Leader’s Guide for Building an Insourced Leave and Accommodations Program
and related webinar:
HR Leader Masterclass: Building an In-House Leave Program
Conclusion
Overall, our team had another very successful DMEC annual conference. Thank you to everyone who visited us at our booth or attended one of our sessions. We can’t wait for the compliance conference in March! If you’d like to learn more about AbsenceSoft’s leave and accommodation software, please schedule a call today.
