When an employee needs a leave of absence or an accommodation, it’s often during a difficult season of life. They may be managing their own illness or injury, or caring for someone else such as a spouse, child, or parent.
That’s why how an employer responds matters so much. A leave or accommodations request is not just paperwork. It’s a moment that can either build trust or break it. A poor experience can undo years of goodwill and may even push an employee to start looking for another job.
To deliver a positive experience, it’s not enough to meet the legal minimum. Even a compliant process can cause harm if it’s messy, confusing, or stressful. But when the process is clear, supportive, and timely, it can build loyalty, boost motivation, and strengthen retention.
In this article, we’ll show you how to build a leave and accommodation experience that offers employees genuine support and creates a culture of compassion.
Building a Culture that also Drives Results
After an employee goes through a challenging time, they’ll remember whether their employer offered support or left them flailing. The experience employees encounter when they need a leave of absence or accommodation deeply informs how employees perceive their workplace. These experiences also create measurable business impact.
For instance, more than 40% of employees who had a poor leave or accommodations experience said they considered quitting their job, according to AbsenceSoft data. This is more than an inconvenience. High turnover limits productivity, squashes morale, and has wide-ranging effects on culture. When an organization’s talent is quitting over something as fundamental as leave and accommodations, their culture suffers.
We’re happy to report that good experiences create the opposite effect. Employers whose leave and accommodations programs are marked by efficiency, ease, and empathy see a return on their investment. Survey respondents who reported good experiences said they were more loyal, more motivated, and more productive once they were back on the job.
Positive experiences impact workplace culture, too. Today’s employees want to feel valued and supported by their employers. Whether a worker needs time off to care for an aging parent or an accommodation to help them with their mental health, it pays to provide those things without pushback or hassle.
Where Work Culture Can Break Down
When leave and accommodations go wrong, it usually comes down to a problem with HR, managers, or processes.
Most HR teams are hardworking and kind. But many are also overloaded: The majority of HR professionals surveyed by AbsenceSoft said requests for both leave and accommodations are on the rise. This means most teams lack time to provide personal support. A kind word can go a long way, however, when someone’s struggling. The lack thereof may signal an uncaring attitude — even if HR means nothing of the sort.
Leave and accommodations may also encounter hiccups via management. Untrained managers often bungle requests. They may try to handle the request themselves instead of sending it to HR. They may ask for too much information or too little information. They could deny someone’s request incorrectly or treat employees inconsistently. When unaddressed, these situations can result in consequences ranging from hurt feelings to lawsuits.
Sometimes, it’s poor processes that contribute to culture breakdowns. Employees may not understand how to ask for help. When employees lack a well-documented, centralized location to submit their leave requests, they often take to email or instant message. This can result in lost information and forgotten requests, which only generate more frustration for employees, especially those already going through a hard time.
It’s all too easy to illustrate how manual processes, in particular, harm leave and accommodations programs. When HR relies on sticky notes and spreadsheets to track requests, they can easily miscalculate an employee’s eligibility for support. They also run the risk of serious delays, which can irritate employees and land the organization in legal hot water.
These breakdowns threaten employers with serious repercussions. They also leave a trail of human impact. Hear how employees in our survey described the impact of poor leave and accommodations experiences:
- “My HR department leaves most of the work of planning a leave on the employee. I wish they would help us in our time of need.”
- “The paperwork process was horrible and paperwork kept getting lost. And then I would have to get it and fill it out again. Awful.”
- “My management team treated me differently after I got my accommodation, and not in a good way.”
- “It was a very frustrating process. It led me to think that my company doesn’t really care, and that what the doctor says is needed for me doesn’t matter.”
How Technology Builds the Foundation for Better Work Culture
When it comes to leave and accommodations, the stakes are high. Employers need to offer employees genuine support as they navigate difficult circumstances. But how can organizations accomplish that goal? Technology is key.
Efficiency is critical to creating a positive employee experience. Not only is swiftness sometimes an outright legal requirement, it’s also helpful to employees.
Let’s say an employee is facing the decline of a parent. When that parent receives a diagnosis, the employee needs quick access to leave to begin facilitating their parent’s care. The employee may need intermittent leave if their parent’s condition becomes unpredictable. Finally, the employee will likely need bereavement leave when their parent passes.
The employee in this kind of situation can’t wait around for their leave to be approved. They may need to travel quickly to get to their parent, or they may need to take off work halfway through the day to get to the hospital. In either case, efficiency on HR’s part ensures employees can focus on what matters most: their loved one.
When HR’s processes are built for efficiency, the team can also add more personal touches. Without the distractions of paperwork or manual data entry, for example, HR can spend more time having meaningful conversations and providing personalized support. A note, a small gift, or a supportive, empathetic conversation can go a long way when someone’s suffering.
Here’s how technology promotes efficiency and creates the foundation of a positive employee experience. A modern leave and accommodation system:
- Automates compliance with major laws, like the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.
- Reduces admin time, freeing up HR for the conversations that matter.
- Empowers employees with self-service portals that prompt them to provide key information.
- Keeps cases moving transparently and clearly with centralized tracking and templates, and automated reminders.
- Streamlines paperwork with texting and fax barcoding, eliminating stress for employees and HR alike.
- Personalizes the experience with smart workflows and communications.
With our platform, specifically, employers have access to the AbsenceSoft Compliance Engine, which supports over 200+ federal and state leave and accommodations laws right out of the box.
Culture-First Employers Set the Standard for Compassion
Many employers recognize the benefits that accompany a smooth, compassionate leave and accommodations process. Here’s how several companies have used AbsenceSoft to enhance the employee experience.
Carvana Maximizes Efficiency Through Texting
Carvana uses AbsenceSoft’s centralized platform to make informed, consistent decisions through a streamlined process. Always-accessible details and data allow Carvana’s team to make quick leave and accommodations determinations. With customizable workflows, the team has created automatic communications and reminders specific to company policies.
The Carvana team also uses text messaging to create an easy, efficient, and personalized experience for employees. “Our team members love text messaging because a lot of them are very busy, and this feature allows them to text their documentation and it attaches to their case within AbsenceSoft,” explained one Carvana leave and accommodations specialist.
Washington Federal Bank Promotes Autonomy with Self-Service
With AbsenceSoft, Washington Federal Bank personalizes the employee experience through the platform’s self-service capabilities. WaFd employees can login onto any device, at any time, to request a leave of absence or accommodation. According to one leave management specialist with the company, “AbsenceSoft’s employee self-service is so simple and easy to use that most of our employees can request a leave without any instruction set.”
Rite-Hite Swapped Manual Processes for Customizable Communications
As a manufacturing leader, Rite-Hite needed a solution that would help it effectively and efficiently manage leave for its 2,200 employees spread across more than 20 different states. With AbsenceSoft, the company has been able to streamline its processes, ensuring consistency and compliance across locations.
The platform allowed Rite-Hite to scrap its manual processes, swapping them for a purpose-built solution. The team can quickly generate and customize communications and send them to employees with the click of a button. It can even include personalized notes, allowing them to support colleagues when they need it most.
Outsourcing? Advocate for the Employee Experience
Many employers choose to outsource their leave and accommodations program. Outsourcing can be a strong strategic choice, but don’t assume your provider is offering a high-quality employee experience.
Be sure to ask your provider if it uses technology to bring clarity, speed, and personalization to employees. First-class third-party administrators should be able to speak in detail about how they leverage technology to enhance the employee experience. If you don’t ensure that the employee experience is a priority at your TPA, you’re opening up your culture and your people to risk.
How OneDigital Promotes Culture as a TPA
OneDigital is a national leader in insurance, financial services, and HR consulting. As its leave of absence practice grew, it partnered with AbsenceSoft as the system that could scale and maintain a high level of care for its clients. AbsenceSoft provided, for example, the customization OneDigital needed to deliver on its white glove service promise.
With the ability to brand communications, configure employer-specific leave policies, and create customized workflows, the team could now offer a tailored experience for every client. AbsenceSoft’s employee self-service portal added a new layer of transparency and ease for employees navigating their own leaves, while the internal workflow tools made it easier for OneDigital’s leave management specialists to stay on top of every task and case.
Be Strategic About Leave and Accommodations for Lasting Impact
Strong workplace culture creates strong professional results. According to research from Gallup, employees who feel connected to their organization’s culture are 4.3 times as likely to be engaged at work and 5.3 times as likely to strongly agree they would recommend their organization as a great place to work. These employees are also less likely to feel burned out and less likely to be looking for a new job.
If you want your organization’s workplace culture to create these kinds of results, leave and accommodations can’t be an afterthought. Rather, your employer’s leave and accommodations program needs to be a strong example of your organization’s commitment to its employees’ health and well-being.
To create an efficient, compassionate leave and accommodations experience, rely on technology. The right system will provide the foundation you need to establish compliance and promote efficiency. The best platforms will go a step further, giving you opportunities to embed personalized support in your workflows.
Whether you handle leave and accommodations in-house or with a partner, make sure your technology supports the employee experience. Your culture will thank you. To learn how AbsenceSoft can bolster the employee experience at your organization, schedule a demo today.