Private and Public sector employer attitudes are changing as employers are facing challenges with accelerating employee absences, lower employee retention rates and workplace performance issues gaining prominence.
Partners Disability Management has been helping employers since 1996. We help you better understand how a Disability Management and Accommodation Program will effectively manage non occupational absences due to medical illness or injury related absences through implementation of practical policies and procedures that minimize disability management costs, enhance retention of skilled workers and improve workplace productivity.
Rather than deal with superficial administrative or clerical issues where the pay or don't pay claims become paramount, we work on the premise of getting to the root cause of the disability - is there a bona fide medical, if so payment isn't an issue. Also in certain situations an insurer or TPA will deny Short Term Disability (STD) benefits if there is no medical to meet their criteria for payment. When this occurs the problem isn't solved and the employer is caught in a bind where they know there is a root cause but can't get to it because of privacy issues - they aren't sure if they should take the employee back and do not know what medical questions to ask to get true clearance.
This occurs quite often under the pay or don't pay model and this is where PDM can make those challenges into opportunities and competitive advantages.
An interesting proverb that aptly describes how the disability management process should be working in today's workplace. The problem is... that it's not.
Disability management costs are spiraling out of control and employers feel helpless in the face of a complex process, the application of privacy and duty to accommodate legislation and a complex relationship that possibly includes the insurance carrier, the employee, unions, management, co-workers and medical professionals.
Many of the complex layers of this process have been built up over many years within employer HR departments, as new legislation and changing employee expectations have resulted in a patch work process to manage disability.
PDM works with you to take control of the disability management process to help improve employee performance and satisfaction and increase workplace productivity.
We prove our value to employers through our ability to collect and distribute critical medical information within the privacy parameters. This medical information is essential to understanding underlying causes of an employee's disability impacting absence and need for accommodation and return to work prognosis. PDM is able to secure and provide a global overview of the causes of disability and with this knowledge we can effectively communicate with the employee, employer and physician through the Disability Management & Accommodation (DM&A) process - ensuring each fulfills their role and responsibility in the process.
PDM and our clients continue to succeed in reducing costs associated with absence due to illness and managing accommodation requests. Through our DM&A program employers are able to exercise and demonstrate due diligence in managing all disability and accommodation challenges with consistency and objectivity.
Our services and tools allow employers to manage employee absences and accommodations due to illness/injury from onset to conclusion. Employees concurrently benefit from understanding their medical needs will be addressed confidentially and without prejudice through third party involvement and assured of the employers commitment to maintaining a healthy and productive workplace.
