Your company has partnered with Sun Life to help manage employees’ leaves of absence and accommodations requests Sun Life helps Human Resources and Managers comply with employer obligations under many federal, state and local leave laws HR and Managers have very important roles in ensuring compliance and helping to avoid lawsuits and liability
Whether you’re new to absence management or need to quickly brush up on your skills, this self assessment will direct you where to start.
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Call Sun Life to file a claim or ask a question:
888-444-0239
This content is not to be considered legal advice. We recommend Clients speak with legal counsel specializing in labor and employment law.
This material is proprietary to Sun Life and provided to bring best-in-class training to your organization. We respectfully request that you do not share this document outside of your organization. © 2022 Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada, Wellesley Hills, MA 02481. All rights reserved. Sun Life and the globe symbol are registered trademarks of Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada. Visit us at www.sunlife.com/us GAMSWC-10186-AC
Absence Management Solutions Manager Training
Home page
Self Assessment
Recognize requests from employees
Understand various leave and benefit types
Compliant communication with employees
Submit and manage claims with Sun Life
What employees do to prepare for a leave
Understanding your ADA obligations
If you have questions
Choose a topic
Some of the questions in this self-assessment refer to statutory benefit plans. Sun Life may or may not manage these for your organization. However, information is provided within this training for your knowledge. Ask your HR leader for guidance.
This material is proprietary to Sun Life and provided to bring best-in-class training to your organization. We respectfully request that you do not share this document outside of your organization. © 2021 Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada, Wellesley Hills, MA 02481. All rights reserved. Sun Life and the globe symbol are trademarks of Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada. Visit us at www.sunlife.com/us
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We track it through payroll
Your employee is requesting Wednesdays off to bring a parent to chemotherapy. This is not something that needs to be tracked by Sun Life.
TRUE
FALSE
Employee should file a claim and track time with Sun Life in order to be eligible for certain benefits.
Good job!
Read more about managing a claim with Sun Life.
Your employee mentions that a sit-stand desk might be helpful. Is this an accommodation request?
NO
The employee didn’t ask for new equipment.
MAYBE
If it could mitigate a medical issue.
Read more about understanding your ADA obligations.
My employee has exhausted their FMLA leave for their own serious health condition and is requesting more time. Should I tell them they need to return to work now?
There may be a duty to accommodate.
YES
The employee has taken all the time available.
Read more about understanding leave and benefit types.
If your employee lives in a state with Statutory Disability, Paid Family, or Paid Family and Medical Leave, they only qualify for that benefit and no other benefits or entitlements.
Read more about leave and benefit types.
The people on my team are friends. I can tell my team why my employee is out on leave for three weeks.
Read more about compliant communication with employees.
I can initiate a claim on behalf of my employee who was in a car accident and is in the hospital.
Your employee is incapacitated and needs to start the claim.
Under no circumstance can you start a claim for an employee.
Learn more about submitting an absence claim with Sun Life.
Accommodation requests are not always posed in the form of a question.
Often, employees explain what they are not able to do, and it’s up to the employer to recognize it as an accommodation request.
Employees are usually straightforward about what they need.
Learn more about recognizing requests from employees.
It is okay for me to try to talk my employee out of taking a leave of absence to care for a family member. I’m pretty sure that my employee has other family that can help out.
If you’re aware of personal circumstances, you can point that out.
You cannot interfere with a leave request.
Learn more about compliant communications with employees.
My employee is pregnant and is asking to change a job requirement for the next six months. What should I do?
Explain that you cannot make this change because then you’d have to do it for everyone.
You should reach out to HR (and Sun Life, if applicable) because there may be a duty to accommodate.
Learn more about your ADA obligations and discuss with HR.
Employees can have a lot of anxiety about taking a leave of absence. There’s not much I can do about it except help backfill the work.
This is a personal issue anyway.
As part of the employee’s support network, you can help your employee prepare for a leave.
Learn what employees go through when preparing for a leave and how you can help.
It’s important to be able to recognize an employee’s request for leave or accommodation.
Employees communicate leave and accommodation requests in non-obvious ways.
Some of the main complaints by employees when they go to attorneys:
No one would listen to me No one would do anything to help I felt pressured to continue to work or risk my job
Watch this brief video.
Identifying a leave or accommodation request can be tricky
While courts have indicated that employees must put you on notice of their need for leave or an accommodation, there is no prescribed format for making this request.
There are no “magic words” required There are no required references to FMLA or ADA The request often is not in the form of a question The request may be mentioned in informal conversation
It is the employer’s obligation to comply with the law, and there are penalties for violating the FMLA and ADA
Why recognizing a leave or accommodation request is important
Managers are often the person an employee goes to with their concerns
If you do not respond in a timely way, you could expose both you and the company to liability
If you become aware that an employee may be requesting either leave or an accommodation, speak to HR
What to listen for when an employee is discussing a personal issue with you
Is there a medical component to the statement or question?
Is the employee identifying a need to be out of work on either a continuous or intermittent basis?
Is the employee expressing a need for change in the workplace or to working conditions that could help them perform their job more successfully?
Select a leave type
Watch our videos for a more detailed look at leave and benefit types and how they coordinate.
Leaves of absence often run concurrently, or at the same time. Benefits can be paid or unpaid, offer job protection or not, and available time off can vary.
Often, employees may be eligible and yet only need leave intermittently or as needed, or they may need a reduced schedule.
Short-Term Disability, an income replacement benefit, can also run concurrently to leave benefits.
These laws and benefits are created to provide employees flexibility to step away from work temporarily, to take care of themselves and their loved ones.
This information is provided to increase your knowledge. Once you recognize a leave or benefit request and advise the employee to submit a claim, Sun Life will notify the employee of the benefits they are eligible to receive.
Allows eligible employees of covered employers to take job-protected, unpaid, leave for up to 12 or 26 work weeks in a 12-month leave year for these reasons:
For bonding; birth of a child; placement of a child for adoption or foster care;
To care for employee’s spouse, child, or parent with a serious health condition;
To care for employee’s own serious health condition;
For a qualifying exigency arising out of the fact that employee’s spouse, child, or parent is a military member on covered active duty (or has been notified of an impending call or order to covered active duty status)
To care for an injured service member
Read more in the FMLA FAQ from the U.S. Department of Labor
”Employees with proper medical certifications may use FMLA leave in lieu of working required overtime hours.”
Due to the sensitive nature of some of these leave laws, Sun Life uses generic names in its correspondence and leave descriptions in order to not refer to the underlying leave reason(s). If you receive notice of a leave type that you do not understand, do not pry into the issue with the employee. Instead, reach out to Sun Life who will provide information as appropriate.
Crime victim Domestic violence Child bereavement leave Family military Organ/bone marrow donor Parental leave Pregnancy disability School activities/visitation Witness
Learn more, watch this short video.
This may mean that your employee may be eligible for leave as an accommodation, covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Requests for leaves of absence as an ADA accommodation arise when an employee who needs a leave for their own serious health condition is not eligible for leave under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) or has exhausted their annual allotment of FMLA leave. In both circumstances, if the employee who needs leave has a disability under the ADA, the employer must engage in a good faith interactive process to evaluate whether the requested leave is a reasonable accommodation.
Sometimes, employees may request an extended leave. The best approach is to evaluate each request for extended leave based on its individual facts and circumstances.
Read Sun Life’s QuickGuide: Extended Leave as an Accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Learn more about Leave as an ADA Accommodations
Visit
www.sunlife.com/pfml
or
read our whitepaper,
State-Mandated Disability and Paid Family and Medical Leave Laws.
Read more here.
Because PFML plans can be run by the state or a private plan, you should ask your HR leader whether Sun Life manages the plan.
If an employee meets the state-specific eligibility requirements for plans that Sun Life manages for your organization, the state disability or leave will trigger automatically during claim filing based on employee data from the eligibility file.
If an employee is entitled to a statutory or leave benefit that Sun Life does not manage, Sun Life endeavors to notify the employee at claim time to file a claim with their state.
Short-Term Disability pays a portion of lost income when an employee cannot work due to a disabling medical condition. Short-Term Disability may run concurrently with other federal or state leave types for an employee’s own serious health condition.
To help prepare for a leave, employees need to know, how much they will be paid, for how long, and when their benefits will begin. The sooner an employee files a claim, the sooner they learn these answers.
Sun Life may or may not manage your organization’s Short-Term Disability plan.
In addition to federal and state leaves, many employers have their own leave programs as part of their employee benefit package. Sun Life may manage certain company leaves for your organization. Ask your HR leader for details.
Remember, an employee’s single event (like an illness or injury, or a need to care for a family member) can result in several eligible benefits that run concurrently.
Statutory disability and Paid Family and Medical Leave
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
Company leaves
Leave as an accommodation under the ADA
Unpaid state and local leaves
Short-Term Disability
For accommodation requests, please consult with HR. This service is not provided through the Sun Life partnership.
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For bonding: Birth of a child; Placement of a child for adoption or foster care;
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These laws help employees care for a family member who has a serious health condition, or for the employee’s own serious health condition. Other reasons may apply.
Because PFML plans can be run by the state or a private plan, you should ask your HR leader whether Sun Life manages the plan
If an employee meets the state-specific eligibility requirements for PFML plans that Sun Life manages for your organization, the state disability or leave will trigger automatically during claim filing based on employee data from the eligibility file
If an employee is entitled to a statutory or leave benefit that Sun Life does not manage, Sun Life endeavors to notify the employee at claim time to file a claim with their state
Short-Term Disability is an income replacement benefit that pays a portion of lost income when an employee cannot work due to a disabling medical condition including pregnancy. Short-Term Disability may run concurrently with other federal or state leave types for an employee’s own serious health condition.
To help prepare for a leave, employees need to know, how much they will be paid, for how long, and when their benefits will begin. The sooner an employee files an absence claim, the sooner they learn these answers.
Watch our SPOTLIGHT: The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) video
Learn more, watch this video.
Learn more, watch short video.
These laws help employees care for a family member with a serious health condition or for the employee’s own disability or serious health condition. Other reasons may apply.
You can help mitigate risk for your company and for you, while also creating a better experience for employees.
You are strongly encouraged to watch this video
Practical compliance tips
Be careful what you say and write
Be empathetic
Listen to your employees
If you are a manager, and you learn or see something that could be problematic, always alert HR
Don't make it personal
Do not share with others the reason an employee is on leave
Treat employees the way you want to be treated and put yourself in their shoes
No one would listen to me
No one would do anything to help
I felt pressured to continue to work or risk my job
Find helpful ‘how to’ articles and videos on submitting and managing claims as well as other topics like registering for a Sun Life account and more in our:
Employee Learning Center
Employer Learning Center
Employees can submit claims:
By phone, if you have telephonic services:
Online:
sunlife.com/account
Employees will first need to register for a Sun Life account and then can submit claims online.
Note: You may have a different phone number for your organization.
IMAGE FPO
Watch this video to learn about our Learning Center
Employees who have more control over their absence tend to feel more positively about the experience than those who are reacting to a crisis – consequently, they have different needs.
Learn what it’s like to be an employee on a leave of absence, and ways everyone in an employee’s support network can help make absence easier. Read our whitepaper.
Not understanding the process for requesting an absence, what their benefits will provide them, or what happens next
Fear of losing their job
Fear of not being able to pay their bills while earning less
Feeling uncared for by their support network
Conflicted about taking the time they need and worried about putting pressure on co-workers
Anticipating a new child
Addressing a chronic injury, like having knee surgery
Managing a chronic condition with intermittent leaves
Caring for a loved one
Fighting a debilitating disease, like cancer
Making sense of a sudden, acute injury
happy
grateful
pleased
misunderstood
fearful
anxious
angry
resentful
Understanding the interactive process
Examples of ADA Accommodation
What is ADA?
The ADA is a comprehensive law that was passed in 1990 to protect and provide opportunities for individuals with disabilities.
Like all anti-discrimination laws, it prohibits employers from treating employees with disabilities less favorably than other employees. However, the ADA goes further than many anti-discrimination laws in that it also requires employers to affirmatively provide reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities to help them perform the essential functions of their job. In order to assess whether an accommodation can be made, managers and Human Resources are required to engage in a good faith interactive process with the disabled employee. The ADA applies to private employers with 15 or more employees.
LEARN MORE
There are many types of accommodations that can be provided under the ADA
Examples of accommodations
Telework Leaves of absence Modified schedules Job restructuring or modification Job transfer Modify equipment Job coaches or mentors Change tests, training materials, policies, etc. Additional training Provide qualified readers or interpreters
Service animals More accessible parking Improve accessibility Dress code exceptions More frequent breaks Relocation to quieter work area Adjusted lighting Ear plugs/headphones Enhanced air purification Temperature controls
i
Be cautious about relying on “general” principles because the ADA requires an individualized inquiry about whether a requested accommodation is reasonable for this particular employee, in this particular job, given this employee’s limitations and restrictions from the impairment. It is legally less risky to make a decision as part of an individualized process rather than in reliance upon a general rule.
Your HR leader may ask you to participate in the interactive process when an employee requests an accommodation because of a disability and/or conditions related to pregnancy.
Ask the employee to fully outline the requested accommodation and the reason that the accommodation is needed.
Hallmarks of the interactive process
This is a good faith interactive process that requires you to:
1.)
2.)
Unless the request is obvious, obtain medical documentation that sets forth the health care provider’s opinion as to what accommodations are required because of the employee’s medical condition.
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4.)
Once you have determined the request is medically supported, evaluate whether the requested accommodation(s) is or are reasonable
Would the requested accommodation relieve the employee of any essential job functions?
Would the requested accommodation impose an undue hardship on the employer or other employees?
Would the requested accommodation create a direct threat to the safety of the employee or others?
Consider whether there is an alternative accommodation that the employer can propose, if the accommodation is not reasonable for one or more of the above reasons.
Even if the accommodation is not reasonable on a long-term basis, is the employer willing to allow it short-term and/or as part of a transitional return to work?
Should the employer approve an accommodation on a trial basis?
Consider a transfer to a different role
Show an open mind.
There should be back and forth dialogue and proposals between employer and employee.
The discussion and decisions should be individualized based on this employee’s particular medical condition and job responsibilities .
The process should not be rushed and may take a while.
This is a good faith interactive process that is required by the ADA:
Unless the request is obvious, Sun Life will collect and review medical documentation that sets forth the health care provider’s opinion as to what accommodations are required because of the employee’s medical condition.
Once Sun Life has determined the request is medically supported, HR or Manager will evaluate whether the requested accommodation(s) is or are reasonable
Consider whether there is an alternative accommodation that can be proposed, if the accommodation is not reasonable for one or more of the above reasons. Questions to consider:
Even if the accommodation is not reasonable on a long-term basis, are you willing to allow it short-term and/or as part of a transitional return to work?
Should you approve an accommodation on a trial basis?
Should the employee be transferred to a different role?
The message of the ADA is clear that the law is intended to be construed broadly and that many, if not most, mental or physical impairments will qualify as disabilities.
If you’re unsure what qualifies, or if you have questions related to pregnancy as an accommodation or extended leaves as an accommodation, the resources to the right may be helpful to you.
Resources:
QuickGuide: Pregnancy Accommodation Legal Options
QuickGuide: What is a Disability under the ADA?
QuickGuide: Extended Leave as an Accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act
As part of Sun Life’s ADA Consulting, a Sun Life Accommodations Consultant provides you individual case guidance to aid in your decision making.
Your business elected ADA Consulting as part of its Sun Life Absence Management Solutions. With ADA Consulting you receive 360° consultation and partnership from Sun Life.
Your Sun Life Accommodation Consultant facilitates the interactive process.
Learn more
Click graphic to view process overview
Discuss the accommodation request(s) with the employer HR contact, and, if needed and authorized, the employee’s manager Discuss the request(s) with the employee Evaluate the adequacy of the medical information and provide assistance to clarify information Communicate regarding potential alternative accommodations that the employer may propose Provide compliance guidance and case guidance regarding the requested accommodation(s)
Assist in drafting the accommodation decision(s) made by the employer
Communicate the employer’s decision to the employee Assist in implementing the accommodation(s) Monitor the accommodation(s) Track accommodation requests and decisions
Read more about ADA Consulting and HR/Manager responsibilities
FOR MANAGERS:
You requested an accommodation— What to expect next for employees
If advised by HR, share this flyer with employees to help them understand their role in participating in the interactive process and how Sun Life’s ADA Consultant will engage with them. Includes FAQs.
Download flyer and FAQs
FOR HR ONLY:
Consider using this template of memorandum to advise an employee who wants to request an accommodation that they must submit medical documentation to support the request. This also serves to document your willingness to engage in the interactive process.
Common ADA concerns and response by courts
ADA Consulting – how Sun Life helps
Communications for employees
With ADA Consulting, a Sun Life Accommodations Consultant will facilitate the interactive process, providing individualized case guidance to help Managers and HR make an accommodation decision.
Your Sun Life Accommodation Consultant facilitates the interactive process. They will:
Guide to Complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
Download the
Guide to the interactive process
In all states, except New York, Absence services are provided by Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada (Wellesley Hills, MA). In New York, Absence services are provided by Sun Life and Health Insurance Company (U.S.) (Lansing, MI). Absence services are not insurance and are not legal advice.
© 2022 Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada, Wellesley Hills, MA 02481. All rights reserved. Sun Life and the globe symbol are registered trademarks of Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada. Visit us at www.sunlife.com/us.
GAMSWC-10186-AC
Everyone has a role to play in absence management.
Contact your HR team if you have any questions about how you should proceed when an employee needs a leave of absence or accommodation, or is experiencing a disability.
Reach out to your HR leader for guidance
Use Sun Life’s Learning Center
When in doubt, encourage your employee to submit a claim with Sun Life
Anytime an employee has a question about their claim, they should contact Sun Life at 888-444-0239.
(Note: Your organization may have a different phone number, either number is okay to use.)
