Casinos ripe target for FMLA management, firm says

Many disability insurers are trying to expand their absence management and leave management programs these days.

ComPsych, a company known for its employee assistance program (EAP) services, says it has come up with concrete evidence to support the conventional wisdom that employers in some sectors need a lot more absence management help than employers in sectors.

The firm conducted a sector-by-sector analysis of outcomes in sectors in which it offers Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) administration services.

The firm divided its employer FMLA clients into six groups: Call centers, casinos, government, health care, manufacturing and professional services.

ComPsych provides FMLA administration services for thousands of workers in each of those categories, a company representative said.

The general public may think of government as a magnet for the kinds of people who find ways to get sick every Monday, but ComPsych found that, in its FMLA programs, government workers are in the middle of the pack when it comes to use of formal FMLA leave.

The percentage of the total employee population that took FMLA leave in any given year ranged from 7 percent at professional services employers to 49 percent at call centers.