How over-reliance on HR creates risk, slows everything down, and keeps everyone overwhelmed.
In most organizations, there’s a person (if you’re reading this…maybe it’s you?) who knows how leave works. Not just the high-level basics, but the specific timelines, the policy details, the claim escalations, the to-dos, and the deadlines.
And when someone needs to take a leave of absence, everyone turns to that person.
It might feel good to be that trusted go-to. “I love it because I like to be the person that can get back to them quickly,” says Kim Smith, Employee Success Manager at Tilt, “they know that if they Slack me, if they text me, email me, they’re going to get a response.”
But when you are the system, everything starts to bottleneck. Because while you may be fast and responsive, you’re also human, and if you’re out for a day, or on vacation, or on your own leave of absence, that knowledge goes with you.
Deadlines slip. Claims stall. Employees are left waiting and confused.
Kim puts it simply: “It’s not a good thing if all of that knowledge only lives in my brain.”
The Unspoken Struggles with Being the Keeper of Leave
When all leave-related knowledge is centralized inside one person (or even just the HR team), it creates friction throughout the organization:
- Employees feel lost – Without a clear roadmap, they’re stuck asking: What do I do next? Who do I contact? Am I going to miss something important?
- Managers are in the dark – When employees turn to their managers first, many don’t know what to say or how to support their team members.
- HR is stretched thin – Answering every small question, monitoring every step, and making sure no one misses a deadline is exhausting, and unsustainable.
Even the most organized HR pro can’t prevent every delay when everything relies on their real-time availability or a spreadsheet they manage alone. Especially when critical deadlines loom, like adding a newborn to insurance or filing time-sensitive claims, HR has to manually remind, re-remind, and often do it themselves just to keep things moving.
That’s a recipe for burnout. And it’s not just a people problem; it’s a business risk.
Why Shared Leave of Absence Knowledge Matters
Employees aren’t trying to make HR’s life harder (despite what we may think), they’re trying to get it right. Most of the time, they just want to know they’re on track. “People just want a double click and a reminder and a thumbs up,” says Kim. “‘have I done everything I need to do in the window of time it needs to get done?’”
That’s not a burden — it’s an opportunity.
This is where Leave Experience Management (LXM) changes the game. By making leave processes transparent, approachable, and automated where they should be, LXM helps organizations build a culture of shared responsibility, support, and clarity.
Here’s what happens when leave knowledge is no longer locked away:
- Employees feel supported and in control. When they know what to expect and where to go for help, the experience becomes less stressful and more human.
- Managers show up with confidence. With the right resources, managers can have better conversations, set expectations clearly, and be stronger advocates for their team.
- HR becomes more strategic. Instead of reacting to every ping and deadline, HR can focus on higher-impact initiatives — while knowing leave is still running smoothly.
“Everybody has a role to play when it comes to leave,” adds Kim. From the teammate stepping up to support a colleague, to the people leader navigating the transition, to the employee themselves, empowering others with knowledge creates better outcomes for everyone.
And that empowerment starts with access and education. When leave guidance is no longer buried in someone’s spreadsheet or stored in one person’s head, the entire organization becomes more resilient, and HR finally gets some breathing room.
How HR Can Lighten Their Leave Burden
Here’s the good news: HR doesn’t have to carry the entire leave process on their own anymore.
The solution to the “only HR knows how leave works” problem isn’t more hours in the day, it’s smarter systems, shared knowledge, and scalable tools that bring relief and restore sanity.
With the right infrastructure in place, HR doesn’t have to chase down every form, remind every employee about a deadline, or drop everything to answer the same question five times a week. Instead, AI automates the admin so HR can stay focused on the human.
Here’s how organizations are building that kind of relief into their leave strategy with Tilt’s LXM platform:
- Employee dashboards. Self-serve timelines, policies, and to-dos that give employees clarity without pinging HR for every next step.
- Manager resources. Role-specific guidance, FAQs, and conversation starters so leaders can support their teams with confidence.
- Automated workflows. From eligibility notices to compliance deadlines, AI-powered automation keeps everyone on track — without HR manually checking boxes.
- Ongoing education. Normalizing leave through updates, internal trainings, and visible policies that make leave less mysterious and more approachable.
As Kim recommends, “Ongoing conversation about leave of absence within the org…the education around it, where the policies can be found, what’s available to employees — that helps everyone.”
This isn’t just about efficiency. It’s about peace of mind. When the process is transparent, when the right people have the right information at the right time, leave becomes a smoother, more human experience for everyone.
HR Deserves a Break (And a Better Way to Manage Leave)
When HR is the only one who knows how leave works, things don’t just get stressful, they get risky. Not because HR drops the ball, but because no one else even knows where the ball is, or how to handle it without tripping over some compliance tripwire.
Employees are left wondering what’s next. Managers make guesses. And HR is stuck in constant reaction mode, juggling questions, deadlines, and follow-ups like a one-person triage center.
But it doesn’t have to be that way.
With Leave Experience Management, knowledge is shared, processes are automated, and compliance becomes clear and confident. Employees feel supported, managers gain the confidence to lead, and HR gets to step out of the weeds and into a more strategic role.
That’s exactly why Tilt created the first Leave Experience Management platform — to move organizations from fire-drill chaos to clarity, control, and confidence. With automated workflows, role-specific guidance, and real-time dashboards, Tilt puts the right information in the right hands at the right time. No more digging through spreadsheets. No more keeping it all in your head.
Because the best HR leaders aren’t just doers — they’re culture builders. And to lead well, they need tools that support them, teams that are empowered, and systems they can trust to run smoothly, even when they’re finally taking a well-earned break.
Tilt is leading the charge in all things leave of absence management through easy-to-use tech and human touch. Since 2017, our proprietary platform and Empathy Warriors have been helping customers make leave not suck by eliminating administrative burdens, keeping companies compliant, and providing a truly positive and supportive leave of absence experience for their people.
