Parental leave is becoming increasingly important for employers to consider as part of their overall employee benefit packages. Successfully managing and administering parental leave, whether for birthing, non-birthing, adopting, or fostering parents, requires more than just tracking days off. However, the journey isn't always as smooth as we'd like it to be, leading to employee dissatisfaction and turnover. This is when many companies bring on partners, like a Leave of Absence (LOA) manager or Third Party Administrator (TPA), to manage the workload.
To truly support your parent employees and HR teams, it's essential to have the right leave administrator in place. We will review the key areas to consider to help you find the best fit for an LOA Manager or TPA.
Before we delve into how to evaluate an LOA Manager, let’s discuss why this can be an important investment. HR leaders understand that offering parental leave, especially paid leave, goes beyond a competitive perk. Parental leave is a time for bonding, adjustment, and ensuring the well-being of families, but not all employees are able to take time off - especially if it’s not paid. Most parental leave policies rely on leave laws and entitlements, which aren’t equitable to all families. As a reminder, only a fraction of working Americans are covered by state leave laws and programs. Relying on existing programs may exclude many of your employees who wish to have a family and makes managing all aspects of a parental leave time consuming and confusing.
By outsourcing leave management to a trusted partner, you can reduce turnover costs and create a supportive workplace that attracts and retains top talent. However, it’s critical to find the right fit for your leave policies and goals. Here's a snapshot of the key areas to consider when evaluating your LOA administrator:
Ensure that the LOA manager you select can manage various forms of leave across state lines, keeping you EOCC compliant and up to date on state benefit programs and changes in paid family leave (PFL) laws.
A successful parental leave experience includes touchpoints before, during, and after leave. Evaluate the offerings for employees who are new to leave including how they are engaged, what information is provided, their access to dedicated 1-1 support, and how they are re-onboarded and transitioned back to work following leave. As family structures continue to evolve, make sure your LOA manager has resources for non-birthing, adopting, and fostering families nationwide.
The goal of a parental leave LOA manager is to simplify and streamline the experience. Ask about their assistance with payroll calculations, reconciliations, and how they work with PEO systems. Weigh what employee data is collected and managed, and what gaps you (as HR) wil be filling.
Successful parental leave management isn't just about tracking days off; it's about creating a supportive and efficient experience for both your parent employees and HR teams. Parento is the only business solution for paid parental leave (PPL) insurance and understands the intricacies of parental leave. While we are not an LOA Manager, our team integrates seamlessly with outsourced partners and TPAs to provide a white glove experience for employees and HR. Our wraparound care and support makes adding paid parental leave a strategic advantage, without adding another process, step, or task for HR.
From start to finish, HR’s added lift to onboard Parento is only about 3 hours. The Parento Program includes a dedicated Leave Concierge team that handles compliance, payroll calculations, including offsets and state benefit programs, and more. Our team ensures that companies remain compliant and on track without compromising the employee experience. PPL through Parento helps companies mitigate cost and risk while providing equitable policies and a high-touch, personalized employee experience.
The proof is in the pudding: Parento has successfully guided over 95% of employees back to work full-time following their parental leave. This is a 30 point increase over self-funded policies and those that only use state benefit programs. Why? Because our program is highly personalized, with multiple touchpoints for employees before, during, and after leave.
With our Leave of Absence Evaluation Toolkit in hand, you can confidently evaluate your LOA Manager to provide the best parental leave experience possible for your employees. Make your parental leave work for you and your parent employees, and see the positive impact it can have on your organization.
