Business & Finance
Business and Finance
Business and Finance
Wed, May 11, 2011 
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--More than one million employees are now covered by Unuma™s (NYSE: UNM) Leave Management Services as more businesses seek ways to manage complex leave laws while balancing costs and productivity.
"More employers are recognizing that a leave management program that integrates short term disability with federal, state and corporate leave can be a key to controlling the cost of absences and increasing productivity."
Unuma™s Leave Management Services helps more than 230 companies comply with ever-changing family and medical leave entitlements and relieves them from the administrative burden of that process. In addition, Unum helps identify patterns and trends in employee absence and helps employers understand how these absences impact costs and productivity.
aHealth care reform and the economic environment have employers looking more closely at all aspects of their health and productivity strategies,a said Gary Godin, assistant vice president of Unuma™s Leave Management Center. aMore employers are recognizing that a leave management program that integrates short term disability with federal, state and corporate leave can be a key to controlling the cost of absences and increasing productivity.a
A recent Unum FMLA customer study found that 20 percent of employees in the sample group had absences involving FMLA or a state leave law in 2009. For an employer with a 1,000 employee workforce this equated to 3,150 lost workdays a" or more than 12 employees absent every workday.
As the leader in disability, Unum also recognizes the close connection between short term disability and family and medical leave. Unum provides integrated absence management services that integrate federal, state and corporate leaves with disability leaves, creating a seamless claims experience for employers and employees.
aOur data shows that more than 50 percent of FMLA leaves are also short term disability leaves,a said Godin. aAn integrated absence management model makes the leave process much easier for human resources professionals and employees who can now have a aone absence, one leave, one experiencea™ process when filing a claim. Additionally, Unum is completing a multimillion dollar series of investments to its service in order to provide the next generation of support its customers expect now and into the future.a
Unum has provided Leave Management Services to employers for 11 years and is among the nationa™s leading providers. The companya™s leave management team consists of more than 170 employees, including four nurses, and a team of dedicated legal experts with more than 40 years of combined employment law experience. Its legal team works closely with the U.S. Department of Labor to stay current on all new federal, state and case laws and regulations. Additionally, Unuma™s Leave Management Service comes with comprehensive and unlimited employer indemnification.
About Unum
Unum ([ www.unum.com ]) is one of the leading providers of employee benefits products and services in the United States and the United Kingdom. Through its subsidiaries, Unum Group paid approximately $6 billion in total benefits to customers in 2010.
