With the frenetic pace most HR teams are operating at, no amount of breathing exercises, stretching sessions, or meditative music can provide the sustainable source of calm that’s so desperately needed at most organizations.
HR Zen is hard to come by these days.
The current stress levels plighting the HR industry are resulting in traumatic effects on the professionals trying to support employee populations and drive business objectives forward.
The specific cause of this stress is of course case specific, but the fact that HR is burdened with more tasks and responsibilities than ever before is a prime suspect. The numbers back this up as well, as a 2024 global survey of more than 1,000 HR leaders and C-suite execs revealed that 95% believe, “HR is simply too much work.”
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the additional workload is also impacting the quality of the HR function’s output. Only 9% of HR departments are both highly efficient and highly aligned to their business’s needs, according to a recent Gartner survey, and those surveyed pointed to burnout as one of the biggest obstacles to achieving this.
Tilt Recap: C-suites are realizing that the HR function needs relief so the HR humans can exhale and operate effectively.
Why Are Leaves of Absence So Stressful For HR to Manage?
There’s perhaps no responsibility HR teams are less equipped to handle or is more derailing to their workflow than leave of absence management. Add to that the fact that a majority of teams today are using spreadsheets and manual processes, or ineffective and outdated solutions, and you can see why LOAs put HR at a major disadvantage for success.
When you enter a situation knowing you aren’t set up for success, stress festers unfettered.
LOAs are a multi-faceted HR function that requires an in-depth understanding of intricate leave laws, employee support for a vast array of leave types, tracking hours, storing documents and data, complex payroll calculations, state and STD benefit navigation, manager education, reintegration after the leave, workforce planning and more.
On top of that, every leave request that crosses HR’s inbox is extremely sensitive and completely unpredictable. This ratchets up the stress levels for every facet of a leave, making it nearly impossible to manage a single leave of absence effectively.
Let’s put a magnifying glass on leave laws, just one of the aspects listed above that HR is currently ill-equipped to manage with the typical manual processes, expertise and spreadsheets in place:
Did you know? Today, there are over 400 state leave laws, and only about 10% of them cover family and medical leave reasons.
Did you know? If your organization has employees in multiple states, HR is expected to know the ins and outs of leave laws in those states (and in some cases, municipalities) and adhere to them accordingly.
Did you know? These laws are evolving and the list of laws grows every year.
Did you know? HR professionals are not (and shouldn’t be expected to be) leave law experts, which means when a leave request comes in the fear of compliance mishaps creeps in.
Leave of absence management causes more stress for HR teams partially because of their complexity and employee sensitivity, but a significant source of the stress is that HR leaders simply aren’t operating with the right solutions and expertise to support this burden effectively without their days, weeks, and months derailing entirely.
Tilt Recap: Understanding the complex and sudden nature of leaves reveals the truth to why they cause HR teams so much stress. LOAs require an incredible amount of effort to manage effectively if using manual or outdated processes, and the compliance component can be as confusing as it is nerve wracking for overworked HR professionals.
Tilt Tip: Want to stay up to date on the latest leave laws? Download our latest quarterly leave law report.
Is Stress-Free Leave of Absence Management Realistic?
If you’ve been managing leaves or a team who manages leaves you’ve likely seen leave requests rise and the growing pressure to provide empathetic employee support increase right along with it.
So is leave request zen even achievable? The short, blissful answer is YES.
Step one requires taking an earnest look at the way your organization handles the bevy of burdens a single leave of absence bestows upon the team.
Step two is identifying options to automate what once was manual, and leaning on experts who can guide employees through a compliant leave journey with empathy.
Tilt’s approach to leave of absence management is the perfect blend of automation and expert empathy that gives HR teams the dose of zen they need to be effective in their role and drive the business forward.
As a fully remote company operating in over 20 states Tilt has saved us so much time in research, compliance, employee conversations, and payroll calculations. Instead of balancing these activities with other responsibilities, we can focus on more strategic and culture-building initiatives!
More specifically, Tilt makes leave request zen a reality through an easy-to-use platform that:
- Automatically determines FMLA eligibility and any other leave they may be eligible for
- Securely stores and tracks all employee leave data across the organization
- Builds personalized leave plans compliant with the latest leave laws (we’ve got an in-house team of leave law experts who live and breathe leave)
- Calculates payroll and automatically adjusts if changes to a leave occur
- Keeps managers informed to help them stay out of legal trouble and improves workforce planning capabilities
- Provides detailed breakdowns of benefit coverage over time
- Supports all insurance carriers
- Guides employees through the state benefit process
Tilt provides HR teams access to the platform, as well as the employee taking leave, their manager, and payroll as well.
Tilt takes one of the most complex and unpredictable functions HR is responsible for and acts as an extension of the HR team to make it the furthest thing from a worry.
Tilt Recap: Stress-free leave management can be HR’s reality by auditing the existing processes currently in place that create friction in the team’s workflow. Then, by identifying a solution like Tilt that streamlines and consolidates the entire process into one platform, HR leaders can implement a modern solution that takes their team’s stress level from a 10 to a 1.
Does LOA Automation Leave The Human Element Behind?
It’s important to remember that while a leave of absence is an undeniable strain on HR bandwidth, it is first and foremost an undeniably human experience for the employee needing to take time away from work.
Automation at the expense of the human experience is an option that organizations simply can’t afford to implement.
“Leave is a very sensitive process,” says Sierra S., Benefits Partner at a leading financial organization, “and I want people to feel celebrated if the reason for leave is celebratory, or feel cared for if it’s more complicated and a more difficult life situation. I know Tilt’s Leave Success Manager Dani delivers very empathetic communication towards my employee base and is VERY responsive and supportive of them.”
One of the biggest stressors HR teams face when administering a leave of absence is supporting employees when they have questions or seek clarity about their leave. Having them dial a 1-800 number falls flat, fending for themselves in a self-serve portal is cold when they need the assuring warmth of a human voice to tell them it’s going to be okay.
“Having that trust in Dani,” Sierra adds, “eases my mind because I don’t have to wonder if employees are getting the level of support that I want them to have. With Tilt, I know that they are.”
Tilt’s automation-driven approach to leave management lifts the administrative burdens currently burying so many HR professionals, while Tilt’s human touch eases their minds around the care and empathy employees are receiving.
Achieve leave request zen with Tilt, and turn this unpredictable source of HR stress into success for the team, the employee, and the organization.
Tilt Recap: Leave automation is only as effective as it is empathetic. Managing a leave of absence is a complicated affair to administer, but it’s a delicate affair because above all it’s a human affair. When looking for a truly stress-free LOA solution, technology and human support must work together in harmony.
About Tilt
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.
