For many years, Purdue University used internal spreadsheets and a database to manage the leave process that served more than 15,000 benefit-eligible employees. As leave requests rose and grew more complex, the Purdue team knew its manual approach would no longer suffice.
Many HR teams find themselves in this position today. Employees are submitting more time-off requests than ever, for reasons that are increasingly complicated. Leave management systems that worked 10 years ago are not just out of date — they’re struggling to meet the needs of today’s employers and employees.
Purdue found its way forward with modern leave technology. When the university partnered with AbsenceSoft, it swapped its manual processes for automation, a change that has saved the school one to two hours per case on intake alone.
This guide will show HR professionals how their teams can realize similar results with automation. With the right technology, you can modernize your leave management process to be more compliant, efficient, and personalized for both your business and your employees.
HR’s Breaking Point: Leave Volume Keeps Climbing
Leave requests are on the rise, and HR needs the right tools to keep up. According to AbsenceSoft’s 2025 State of Leave and Accommodations Report, 57% of employers saw an increase in the number of employees asking for a leave of absence. Today’s workforce is also willing to ask for leave when they need it—in a recent survey, we found that 85% of respondents felt comfortable requesting and taking a leave of absence.
With manual processes, HR often fall behind when a caseload balloons. In industries like healthcare, education, and retail, HR teams can become especially strained, as their large and complex workforces create an especially taxing workload.
Outdated methods involving spreadsheets and sticky notes not only slow down HR departments but also threaten to create costly mistakes. HR must navigate overlapping state laws, track intermittent leave, comply with new laws like the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), and orchestrate return-to-office transitions. When HR relies on manual methods, they face these compounding challenges without the tools they need.
The Hidden Cost of Manual Leave Management
When an HR team manages leave manually, it assumes several significant costs. First, there are the compliance challenges. Forty-three percent of HR teams report FMLA compliance as a top frustration, according to recent AbsenceSoft data. Manual processes do nothing but exacerbate the challenges of complying with the FMLA or any other leave law.
Without leave management software, HR teams must rely on themselves to meet mandated deadlines, file the correct paperwork, calculate eligibility, untangle intertwining laws, oversee evolving cases, and more. These tasks are not just items on a to-do list; they are legal obligations with specific standards enforced by the law. Failing to complete these steps correctly can cause companies legal exposure that’s avoidable with modern processes.
Non-compliance isn’t the only risk created by manual leave management. When HR gets overwhelmed by the leave process, employee experience can be impacted. A missed deadline or an incorrect calculation may result in someone’s leave getting delayed or incorrectly denied. Delays in communications and confusion around paperwork can cause employees extra stress, even when HR is trying their best.
When employees experience issues like these, the employer-employee relationship fractures. Nearly half (42%) of respondents who encountered poor leave experiences returned to work feeling less motivated, according to AbsenceSoft’s report. A whopping 50% said their experience caused them to start looking for a new job or quit before coming back.
Finally, manual leave management often absorbs HR’s attention. When the HR team is consumed by all things FMLA, it can’t devote time and effort to more strategic initiatives, like workplace culture and employee relations.
How Automation Elevates the Human Touch
These days, automation can mean a lot of things. Some automation solutions are so focused on streamlining tasks that they remove too many human touchpoints, and other providers rely on their own human outsourcing to fill in the gaps. Leave management requires the right technology balance, as it frequently requires fundamentally human skills like judgment, logic, and compassion.
In leave management software like AbsenceSoft, automation is used to quickly complete repetitive administrative tasks. After implementation, the transformation is powerful for the department, its organization and its employees. Cases can be handled 66% faster, giving HR valuable time back to support employees during challenging times in their lives.
The AbsenceSoft platform uses intelligent automation to improve compliance, boost efficiency, and streamline the leave management experience. With our platform, users can:
- Auto-calculate eligibility: The AbsenceSoft Compliance Engine™ supports over 200+ federal and state leave and accommodations laws, including the FMLA, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. Users can accurately calculate eligibility, even with overlapping and evolving laws at play.
- Auto-generate compliant forms: The ACE Packet Generator automates the process of providing employees with all the necessary documents, forms, notices, and communications related to their leave, such the FMLA Notice of Eligibility and Rights & Responsibilities (Form WH-381). Forms are automatically updated as legislation changes, so everything you need is generated instantly and accurately.
- Centralize documents and status updates: AbsenceSoft’s leave software securely and centrally stores all paperwork, forms, case notes, and communications, retrievable instantly in the case of a complaint or audit. Meanwhile, our consolidated dashboard and instant reporting gives users real-time insights into their program, enabling strategic decision-making and better team management.
- Mobilize return-to-work tasks: Users can automatically generate and send fitness for duty or other medical certification paperwork prior to an employee’s return to work date. The platform also sends automated reminders when an employee is about to return from leave. Users can schedule text and email notifications for employees, managers, IT, building administrators, and more.
A modernized, automated approach to leave management also improves the experience for employees. With a user-friendly platform like AbsenceSoft, employees can privately submit leave and accommodations requests through a self-service portal — which is accessible on any device, at any time. Employees can also easily track the status of their request and stay updated on important updates. Learn more about how your team can benefit from the AbsenceSoft Compliance Engine™.
Results from the Field: What HR Teams Are Seeing
HR is frustrated with leave management—and on the lookout for a solution. In our 2025 State of Leave and Accommodations survey, 37% of HR leaders said they want access to better technology for this purpose.
Employers that have automated their leave management process with AbsenceSoft report significant time savings and productivity gains. The Cypress-Fairbanks school district in Texas, for example, saves HR 13 work weeks of time every year now that the leave team uses AbsenceSoft.
A national healthcare provider experienced similar time savings when it swapped its manual leave management process for a technology-forward approach. After implementing AbsenceSoft, its team was able to take on 174% more cases.
With AbsenceSoft, Purdue University saw huge efficiency gains across its entire leave process:
- Time for leave intake is reduced by 1-2 hours for every case
- To-do lists generated by AbsenceSoft saves 35% vs using a manual checklist
- Time spent on reporting went from 5-6 hours every month to 15 minutes
TThese time savings are critical for helping HR teams keep up with increasing leave requests while staying compliant. Leave managers are also better equipped to provide a positive leave experience — something that leaves 50% of employees feeling more motivated and productive when they return to work. See how AbsenceSoft’s Case Management Module can streamline your organization’s approach to leave and accommodations.
How to Know It’s Time to Automate
Do you suspect your team could benefit from automation? Here are some signs that indicate your department is ready to make the change:
- Your team is behind on paperwork.
- Your department needs to get up-to-date on compliance audits.
- You rely on sticky notes, spreadsheets, or email chains to manage leave.
- You’ve recently experienced problems with pay accuracy.
- Your team has made recent mistakes with leave eligibility.
- You can’t easily report on how many open cases you have or where delays are happening.
Unlock the Benefits of Automation with AbsenceSoft
By automating absence management, your team can unlock three distinct and powerful benefits. Streamlined processes protect your team, positioning them to focus on something besides their administrative workload. Automation also supports employees, ensuring their leave experience is a positive one. Finally, modernized leave management benefits your employer by reducing the risk of serious compliance mistakes.
Unlock these benefits with AbsenceSoft. To learn how our platform can automate the entire leave lifecycle—from intake requests to return-to-work—book a demo today.