On demand webinar: Enhancing the employee experience through effective leave management

Insight

3 minutes

24 August 2026

Summary

Integrating leave management (FMLA, PFML, STD/LTD, PTO, accommodations) with voluntary benefits (accident, critical illness, hospital indemnity, supplemental life/AD&D) improves the employee experience and reduces financial hardship during life events.

When an employee is facing an injury, a new baby, a serious diagnosis or a parent that suddenly needs care, the last thing on their mind is which benefit sits in which department. They are thinking about their health, their family, and how they will manage. That one moment can set a lot in motion all at once. Job protected leave, wage replacement, workplace accommodations, and a wave of new costs. And they often need to navigate multiple systems, vendors, and benefit programs during an already stressful time.

Forward-thinking employers are changing that.

During this informative webinar, Scott Daniels and Laura Thompson, Howden Leave, Income & Voluntary Solutions, discuss how organizations are bringing together leave management and voluntary benefits to create a more seamless employee experience, improve benefit utilization, and help employees access the financial support available to them when they need it most.

Scott and Laura break down the hidden risks associated with an employee’s leave of absence that extend far beyond the workplace, triggering financial strain that may significantly affect their quality of life, overall wellbeing and economic security. You’ll gain visibility into how an active portfolio of voluntary benefits can transform a leave management program and the employee leave experience. 
 

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Key takeaways

  • Event-centric leave integration: Integrate leave management and voluntary benefits around the employee “event” (injury, childbirth, serious illness, caregiving) to reduce confusion, improve experience, and close financial gaps without necessarily adding new programs.
  • Voluntary pay boosters: Use voluntary benefits as a “pay booster” to offset common wage-replacement shortfalls (e.g., a 40% gap when STD/PFML doesn’t reach full pay) and cover real out-of-pocket costs like copays, childcare, and transportation.
  • Data-driven financial resilience: Plan for financial vulnerability using hard data—more than 1 in 4 U.S. adults have a disability, ~6% of working Americans experience a short-term disability event, and 4 in 10 adults can’t cover a $400 emergency—then design benefits and communications to prevent employees from delaying leave and driving presenteeism.
  • Caregiving risk management: Treat caregiving as a core leave-and-financial-risk use case, since 49% of caregivers report work responsibilities suffering and caregiving-related productivity loss averages about $5,700 per employee annually.
  • Governed benefits compliance: Reduce compliance and litigation risk by actively governing voluntary benefits (monitor premiums, commissions, and loss ratios; validate ERISA safe-harbor requirements; audit claim accuracy) while improving utilization through clear, personalized, multi-channel communications and emerging auto-adjudication capabilities.

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