FMLA administration is another one of those administrative burdens demanding HR to manage more spreadsheets, conduct more regulatory upkeep, and consult with more lawyers. At the average cost of $78,000 to defend and FMLA suit, employers can’t afford to get it wrong. The reality is that most employers are either not doing anything to track FMLA leave, or they are doing it poorly.

With the onset of Paid Family Leave, employers are looking for ways to improve employee leave management and reduce the potential for FMLA abuses. For those looking for FMLA outsourcing or a technology solution to FMLA administration, here are five benefits of using FMLA software.

1. Automate your FMLA entitlements

The first question at the start of any potential FMLA case is whether or not the employee is eligible for the benefit. If you are looking for an FMLA software that will be able to automate your entitlements, you’ll need one of two things:

• an FMLA administration software that is synchronized with your employee time tracking software
• or, a software that can receive an import file for tallying employee entitlements

By automating your global FMLA entitlement it removes the spreadsheet action from the process.

Related Blog: How to Curb FMLA Abuses

2. Notify supervisors of returning employees

Nobody feels the burden of absent employees like the supervisor that has to find affordable way to cover the shift. Having an FMLA software that provides supervisors with entitlement reports for their employees and notifications when they are returning to work will help them craft affordable plans for reducing overtime costs while covering labor gaps.

3. Go paperless with auto-populating DOL forms

We can always count on the DOL for some fun and exciting paperwork. A software that auto-populates mandatory forms and maintains electronic copies can reduce the paper from the processing and reduce the paper-pushing by upwards of 80%.

I’d like to learn more about Benetech’s FMLA Software Solution

4. Maintain a clean audit trail

When employers can prove that they have done their due-diligence to comply with the law and give employees their entitled leave, they have a much higher probability of successfully defending an FMLA lawsuit. Organizations with automated FMLA software experience 29% fewer grievances and 17% fewer grievances settled in favor of the employee.

Related Blog: What to look for in a FMLA Software Solution

5. Easy intermittent leave hours tracking

Tracking intermittent leave is one of the greatest burdens of FMLA administration. Having an FMLA software that allows administrators and supervisors to directly update intermittent hours within an online leave case ensures that the data tracking is in the hands of the most appropriate leaders.