Leander Independent School District (ISD) is a large, fast-growing district that employs over 6,000 people at 44 campuses in Texas. Claims Specialist Emily Cook is part of a small leave team that handles as many as 40 new leave requests every week.
Up until 2023, Cook’s team was calculating leave entitlements for 30 different employee calendars all by hand. It was incredibly tedious, time-consuming, and error prone. Determining eligibility this way made the team constantly worry about staying compliant.
After Leander ISD implemented AbsenceSoft, they could instantly calculate eligibility saving each leave manager one to three hours per day. They also have peace of mind knowing that their eligibility and entitlement calculations are accurate.
“It is nerve-racking to do entitlement calculations by hand, but with AbsenceSoft we can put in the case dates, and it will automatically say whether a person has been approved or denied and how many hours they’ve worked. It takes the stress off, us knowing that we did not manually miscalculate,” Cook said.
For Leander ISD, having 44 campuses means 44 different school names, addresses, and other details to include in their various communications to employees. Instead of having 44 different Word templates, AbsenceSoft allows them to create unlimited templates inside the platform. When they need to communicate with an employee, they just select the template for the right campus, and can even personalize it with a note. They can also customize the template itself whenever they need to. Not only has this saved time, it has also improved the overall employee experience.
“It really makes a difference with our employees. The customizable communications allow us to include our district-specific information while also tailoring it to the employee’s leave case. We can get our employees the information needed for them, their leave case, and their insurance while also sliding in some personal touches,” said Cook.
AbsenceSoft’s self-service portal is also helping improve the overall leave experience for employees of Leander ISD. This allows employees and their managers to easily request a leave on whatever device is most convenient, whenever they need to. Employees can log in to get real-time updates on the status of their leave cases at any time without needing to contact the leave team directly.
“With AbsenceSoft’s Self Service Portal, employees can go in and upload documentation that we have requested so we do not have to chase them or their providers. The employees can just go in and upload it and there won’t be any question on if we received it or when,” reflected Cook.
Leander ISD is like any school district – many of their employees need coverage when they go on leave. To schedule replacement workers such as substitute teachers, supervisors used to have lengthy conversations with the leave team to know who is out on leave and for how long. Now with AbsenceSoft’s self-service portal, supervisors can log in to see the status of their employees’ leaves of absence instantly.
“[AbsenceSoft] allows supervisors to see who is out on their campus, they can see who is out and for how many weeks. Then, they can make sure the sub office is aware of this and that subs will be able to be there for the amount of time needed,” explained Cook.
With AbsenceSoft, Cook’s leave team can quickly and easily view and report on leave program data. This allows them to regularly and proactively share details with their district supervisors about both current and upcoming employees’ leave dates. With the self-service feature and scheduled reports, it is now much easier for supervisors to know when substitutes will need to be scheduled.
“It’s really easy and convenient, it is only a few clicks of a button to get a full report that’s customizable to anything I need,” said Cook.
School districts are filled with employees who do not spend all day sitting at a computer. AbsenceSoft gives Cook’s team the ability to send and receive text messages and store them in the system. This helps them keep full track of every communication made. They can also easily update employees with information regarding their leave requests.
“With text messaging, it is really easy to get in contact with an employee and say ‘hey your leave has been approved, be on the lookout for more information sent to your email.’ The time stamps on communications sent and received also allow us to track what has already been done, so if anyone is out on a specific date, we can see what has already been done, when, and go from there,” recalled Cook.
With AbsenceSoft, Leander ISD is saving valuable HR time and elevating their employees’ leave experience. District operations have also been improved with much easier, more accurate substitute scheduling. AbsenceSoft allowed Cook’s team to fully modernize the school district’s leave program, while dramatically improving their day to day.
To learn how AbsenceSoft can help you streamline and automate your school district’s leave program, schedule a demo today.
