January 2017
Emerging Technologies and
Integration
This is the first @Work issue to examine emerging technologies and absence integration. The articles have been written with a specific focus on your needs as an integrated absence management professional, and explore many of the technological changes occurring within our community.
Features
Expand Your Toolkit: Accessible Design and Assistive Technologies
Accessible website design and assistive technologies are giving employers two powerful new avenues to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act and win the recruiting and retention talent wars. Read more.
Technology Opens New Leave Management Program Options
As leave law complexity continues to increase, the interaction of all these laws has also become more involved. Experienced professionals are now finding ways to boost their compliance efforts, either through relationships with external vendors or by using more sophisticated tools. Read more.
Spotlight Articles
Program Showcase: ARUP Laboratories
Technology to automate leave management is offering a rich field of choices for program basics. But employers must be prepared to assess how emerging technologies intersect with the FMLA. ARUP Laboratories has successfully introduced technology to manage the work volume and complexity of leave management. Read more.
RTW Case Study:
Accommodation Strategies
Here’s an updated proverb for integrated absence management professionals: The early employer gets the “worm” of return to work as soon as medically advisable. We know that the longer disabled or injured employees stay off the job, the less likely they are to ever return. Read more.
Compliance Makeover: Sedentary Work and Sit-Stand Desks
We have all seen the headlines — “sitting is the new smoking,” and “we are sitting ourselves to death,” and “death by chair.” Are they true or just the latest hype to help boost the fast-growing sales for sit-stand workstations? Read more.
Columns
Wrestling with ADA, FMLA, and Overtime: Overtime Avoidance
Overtime is an ever-increasing fact of today’s business model for many employers. As a result, employers are grappling more often with overtime issues that challenge their ADA and FMLA compliance efforts. Read more.
Integrated Absence Management: Put the Best Technology to Work
Mastering the interplay between paid and unpaid absences and the ability to integrate an employee’s absence “event” continues to be a strategic objective for many employers. Technology underpins critical factors to success. Read more.
Ask the Accommodation Experts: Job Reassignment Strategies
In this new column series, Jenny Haykin, MA, CRC, and Tom Sproger, MS, CEAS-II, will be tackling your toughest accommodations questions. First up, Jenny and Tom tackle job reassignment strategies when unions are involved. Read more.
Absence Matters: Emerging Technology Trends
Technology advancements continue to influence disability leave and absence management programs. Employers should follow these closely as new technologies will drive program improvements and options available to employees seeking time off from work. Read more.
Untangling the ADA, FMLA, WC Web: Five Health and Productivity Best Practices
Every month, it seems the legal landscape surrounding leave and accommodations grows ever more complex. Employers can erroneously overlook health and productivity (H&P) best practices that support their compliance efforts and improve productivity. Read more.
Overcoming the Disability Epidemic: Technology and Wellness in the Workplace
The Internet has created an integrated, globally interconnected business environment that is fast, flexible, and constantly evolving. Unfortunately, absence management processes haven’t always kept up with these tectonic shifts in the workplace. Read more.
The Future of Leave Management: Consumerization Trends
The consumerization of leave management is happening. Is your organization ready? A consumer-like environment in the workplace is not just the expectation of a Millennial mindset. Innovative tools and techniques are evolving in all areas of the workplace, and leave management is no exception. Read more.
Piecing Together the Integration Puzzle: Predictive Analytics
“Integrated benefits management” can take a myriad of forms, with program performance varying greatly depending on many factors. But across the board, two critical factors drive success: an integrated program’s method of implementation and its benefits. Read more.
Departments
The CEO’s Desk: Technology’s Two-Edged Sword
We may often wonder if technology is a friend or foe. We all want the newest and coolest phones, tablets, and apps, and yet, we complain about being “wired” all the time. We’ve become so dependent on technology that we sometimes forget how quickly things have changed. Read more.
DMEC News: January 2017
This year, DMEC celebrates 25 years of empowering organizations to become better employers through effective and integrated approaches to absence and leave management. DMEC is delivering on its commitment to advance strategies and resources that improve workforce productivity by minimizing the impact of absence and disability. Read more.
Compliance Memos: January 2017
The January 2017 compliance memos cover final DOL regulations on disability claim procedures, benefit provisions in the 21st Century Cures Act, state and local law updates, and the extended deadline for Form 1095-C. Read more.
