Early intervention is the key to managing your disability costs

Many employers feel disability cost savings can only be calculated once their employees are off work and start collecting sick leave benefits. The importance of managing your costs prior to the start of the absence is key to reducing overall costs related to disability management. 

Employers who are proactive in early intervention and prevention have realized this is where the true cost savings are: preventing the absence, and keeping your employees at work.

Shifting the focus to proactively assisting the employee with their issues before they even go off work can save time, money and valuable productivity. Conduct ergonomic assessments on all positions in your company to ensure injury prevention, have a comprehensive wellness strategy addressing issues that may be showing up in your drug use and Employee Assistance Program (EAP) statistics. Offering flu clinics, biometric screening, having an accommodation policy are also great options.  Promote staying at work, working safe and healthy.

Advantages to prevention and early intervention strategies;

Financial Benefits:

• Cost savings on all benefits including short-term and long-term disability (STD and LTD) 
• Reduced lost time
• Fewer absences

Operational Benefits:

• Better employee morale, more productive employees
• Positive work environment and proactive rather than reactive approach to absence management
• Employee retention

Getting started:

Many employers feel that prevention and early intervention are costly to put in place. The initial upfront costs can be minimal depending on what you choose to do.  To start, prioritize the most relevant and key issues within your organization.  

Ensure you are informed of what your employee population issues are. Key areas to focus on include:

• Review your statistics – EAP, benefit, STD, LTD statistics are all key information for planning
• Ensure you have solid policies for Accommodation, STD, and LTD
• Work closely with your 3rd party providers to understand where to focus your prevention strategies
• Start with a strong foundation that you can continue to build upon year over year and ensure you track progress to determine if your efforts in fact are reducing absenteeism

Ultimately, the goal is to take control over your absenteeism costs by proactively understanding why individuals are absent from work. 

Putting preventative measures in place allows employees to stay at work while still managing their disabilities and maintaining a positive work place. Taking these first steps will put you as an employer on the path to having a healthier, productive and more engaged workforce.

To learn more about programs that can manage employee absence, please contact Lifemark’s disability program. We work together with our clients to offer proactive measures that prevent and manage absence effectively, which leads to cost savings and employee retention. For more information, please contact Connie Deschamps at 604-562-9776.