As employee expectations and workplace laws continue to evolve, employers are facing a growing wave of non‑traditional leave requests—from bereavement and domestic violence leave to organ donation, reproductive loss, menopause, and NICU leave. This session explores these emerging leave trends, why they matter, and how employers can respond thoughtfully and compliantly. Attendees will gain practical guidance on policy design, administration challenges, and risk management, while learning how to balance legal compliance, consistency, and employee experience in today’s complex leave landscape

In this session, leaders from Unum and DMEC will unveil a research-backed, practical framework to help attendees assess and strengthen their leave programs across six dimensions: benefit design, cost, compliance, communication, culture and measurement. 

Through exclusive access to Leave Impact Think Tank findings and employee survey research and illustrated with peer examples and applied scenarios, participants will see how leave leaders turn research into results. Attendees will leave with actionable insights to evaluate policies and design leave programs that employees understand, trust and value.

Most employer health programs focus on clinical care and claims management, leaving a critical gap between treatment and functional recovery. Drawing on a real-world study of an employee returning to work after treatment, we’ll examine how structured support for symptom self-management, behavioral coaching, and structured planning improves functional outcomes enabling earlier, sustainable return-to-work

This is the 90-Day Retention Trap, and it happens because HR cannot be in the room for the hundreds of micro-transitions that occur across the three phases of leave: Preparing, During, and Returning. But managers are already there and need to know what to do.

Requests for religious accommodations are rising sharply, and the EEOC has made religion in the workplace a clear enforcement priority. This program will break down the latest legal developments, outline what we are learning from the EEOC, and provide practical strategies to help employers navigate accommodation requests, prevent workplace conflict, and maintain a respectful, compliant work environment

Please join an Annual Conference favorite session on recent jury trials and key settlements and other courts cases involving the ADA, the FMLA, the PWFA, and state and local leave, disability accommodation and pregnancy accommodation laws. Our main goal at this session is to provide common sense compliance tips to help employers avoid the expense and business disruption caused by lawsuits related to leave and accommodation issues. And, of course, our second main goal is to entertain

This session outlines key questions employers should address before selecting or deploying a leave planning tool: What problem are you solving? How will the tool’s fit and flexibility align with existing systems? What data, governance, security, and privacy requirements must be in place for success?

Attendees will also be introduced to the LEAVE framework, a structured method for evaluating potential solutions. Participants will leave with clear decision points to guide the adoption of tools that deliver value and strengthen employee experience.

Today’s workforce increasingly consists of the “sandwich generation”—employees balancing careers while caring for aging parents, children, or other dependents. Yet most employer leave and disability programs remain designed for short-term medical events, not the complex, ongoing realities of caregiving.

In this panel, leaders from an employer, brokerage, and leave administrator (Sparrow) will explore how caregiving is reshaping workforce stability and absence trends. Attendees will gain actionable insights and emerging strategies to design more supportive, sustainable programs for working caregivers in today’s evolving workplace.

Digestive and mental health issues are a growing concern for employers, contributing to increased healthcare costs and significant productivity loss. With up to 70 million Americans living with chronic gastrointestinal disorders and employees with digestive health issues missing up to 17 workdays per year, the workplace impact is substantial. This session explores the mind-gut connection—how digestive and mental health are closely linked and often overlooked in the workplace and will include recent disability claim trends. Attendees will discover practical considerations for addressing these challenges, including designing effective benefits, reducing stigma, and tailoring programs to the unique needs of diverse workforces. Gain a roadmap to insights on incorporating the mind-gut connection into your workforce health and absence management strategy to bridge care gaps, support employee well-being, and manage absence costs more effectivel.

As paid family and medical leave programs mature across the country, policymakers are increasingly turning their attention to a new generation of workplace leave issues. From caregiving and bereavement leave to pregnancy loss, military family support, organ donation, and mental health-related absences, states are exploring policies that extend beyond traditional leave frameworks. At the same time, policymakers continue to grapple with questions about implementation, coordination, administration, and unintended consequences. This interactive roundtable offers DMEC members an opportunity to engage in a two-way exchange with state legislators, sharing practical employer experience while gaining insight into emerging policy priorities. Participants will explore where momentum is building, highlight considerations that can inform thoughtful policy design, and discuss approaches to supporting employees while maintaining effective and sustainable leave administration