Over 23 years ago, my journey into medical leave management began with my first consulting client. As I added more and more clients, it quickly became obvious that very few of them knew how to manage the new field of medical leaves required by the ADA and FMLA. I had to develop tools and training almost on the fly, since no tools or resources were available. This started my journey to create the tools and trainings my clients needed to mange complex areas like FMLA to ADA transition, ADA Good Faith Interactive Meetings, ADA Reasonable Accommodation, ADA Undue Hardship Analysis and state specific medical leave issues, particularly the complex medical leaves in California.
The Discovery
I quickly discovered that a key requirement to save time and have an effective and efficient system for my clients was to have the right form and letter templates available for the specific leave scenario my client faced. I started with one form/letter and added more as I discovered new scenarios and new combinations of leaves with current and new clients. After my business as an Expert Witness in wrongful terminations involving medical leaves took off in 1999, I gained insight from the court cases I testified in. This lead to more forms and more customization of the forms to help my clients prevent lawsuits, save time and save money while improving productivity. (I now have 84 federal forms/letters plus their 84 step-by-step narratives. There are 112 California specific forms/letters and 112 step-by-step narratives. Add in the numerous check lists, leave diagrams, short training videos, live Q&A calls to get your toughest questions answers and more, and the investment is tiny in comparison to the value.)
The Process
With all the forms, letters, and other resources you will ever need in place, it’s time for the rubber to meet the road. This means providing not only the system but also the training to make it as easy as possible for even a new HR professional to master the forms and letters in days, not months or even weeks.
The Secret
A little known requirement of a solid Leave Management System is to integrate your firms medical leave polices into the wording of the forms and letters. This is a little used secret in the industry to keep you out of court that I uncovered during my FMLA/ADA Expert Witness consulting over the last 15 years. My system helps to show you exactly how to integrate your medical leave policies into each form or letter. (I offer a customization service to do this for you if you are too busy to do it yourself and keep all the forms and letters updated. I also offer a Leave Management Discovery Audit. See below.)
Update
The final cornerstone is regular updates of the forms, letters and other resources as well as the related training to keep both the forms and letters in the system and you fully up-to-date to help you control your medical leaves as effectively, efficiently and affordably as possible.
Leave Management Discovery Audit
An audit designed to uncover problem areas and develop a custom strategy plan to ensure your leave management policies and procedures are as efficient and effective as needed to maximize productivity and minimize short AND long-term cost. My busy Expert Witness schedule only permits me to complete 1 or 2 of these per quarter. Please call now to discuss your questions about how a Leave Management Discovery Audit will help your firm. I also provide a full customization service of the forms and letters to save you time and help you hit the ground running with a fully customized solution.
Get Started Today
A Leave Management Solutions Membership is the easiest way to keep your organization compliant with state and federal medical leave regulations and protect yourself from wrongful termination, litigation and abuse.