Whenever the topic of budgets gets brought up it’s in our nature to suddenly go Golem and act “my precious” over every dollar. Of course, most of us live in reality and not Middle Earth (if only), so the slice of the budget pie is only so big. Therefore priorities must be established and concessions must be made.
While this is ubiquitous across all departments in every organization, People Ops are often under an extra-intense magnifying glass to be the best possible stewards of their budget and determine the most impactful way to spend what’s allotted.
Why Your Leave Management Budget Is Critical for Business
Keeps you compliant with legal requirements: Not only does this rhyme and therefore is easy to remember, getting leave of absence laws right is also critically important to the financial health and reputation of your organization. Further, staying compliant likely means you aren’t discriminating against your employees, which is a no-win situation for anyone involved.
Having the support to effectively and efficiently adhere to the latest FMLA requirements, as one example, isn’t something organizations can simply afford to go without. One FMLA lawsuit on average costs $78,000 to defend, and if it’s not defended successfully that amount can skyrocket.
With ever-evolving leave laws, state benefits programs, and dispersed workforces, People Ops teams don’t have the luxury of putting leave of absence management on the back burner or else they may get…burned (we’re leave experts, not analogy experts).
Protecting your leave management budget will ensure you can get the support you need to stay compliant, avoid costly lawsuits, and eliminate the stress of having disgruntled employees dragging your organization’s name through the mud on social media.
Support employees when they need it most: As a People Ops pro you’re responsible for a lot more than onboarding, payroll and benefits. You’re also an employee’s trusted advisor within your organization when they aren’t sure who to turn to. There’s perhaps no more significant instance of this than when an employee has a significant life event and needs to take time off.
They have questions. They have rights. They have fears.
Without allocating resources to leave management your employees will have questions that may go unanswered, rights that may get infringed upon, and fears that will go unsoothed. Successfully supporting your employees through a leave of absence can look different every time, and it’s on People Ops to ensure they have the support system in place to effectively manage every leave consistently (btw, inconsistently managed leaves can lead to lawsuits as well).
Not only does a poor leave management experience open your organization up to potential legal action, it also opens you up to a less-productive workforce with lower morale leading to higher turnover. No one wants to work for an organization that doesn’t treat its employees like humans, and it’s too big of a burden for most People Ops teams to manage without proper budget allocation.
Free your time and your mind: With their complexity and sensitivity, we know that leave of absence management is one of your least favorite things to do. The administrative tasks are extremely time-consuming, the laws are confusing, and managers are always one ill-fated email away from causing chaos…expensive chaos.
Having a proper budget for an efficient leave management solution can alleviate all of those burdens and stressors which will free you up to do the work you love. Your employees stay supported and your own bandwidth and mental health get a boost because instead of frantically Googling leave laws for a state you’ve never stepped foot in at 10 pm, you’re focused on the initiatives you’re truly passionate about.
Don’t Budge Your Leave Management Budget
Protecting your leave of absence management budget is really about protecting you, your team, your time, your employees and your organization. Whether you’re evaluating tools or humans to support leave, effective and efficient leave management is essential for a high-functioning People Ops team within every organization.
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.
