Unum Marks 10th Anniversary of Leave Management Services

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Ten years after Unum (NYSE: UNM) started providing Leave Management Services, the company is now helping more than 200 businesses manage the complex requirements of federal and state family and medical leave laws.

“This 10th anniversary is an important milestone for us”

“This 10^th anniversary is an important milestone for us,” says Rob Hecker, vice president of Benefits Services at Unum. “What began as an innovative solution for one of our customers, AOL, has grown into a significant service offering that continues to grow in demand as leave laws evolve and expand.”

Unum’s Leave Management Services were originally created in 2000 in partnership with AOL. Then a customer of Unum’s for short term disability, AOL was looking for a solution to keep up-to-date with ever-changing federal and state leave laws and the administrative workload often associated with these laws. They asked Unum to design a comprehensive leave management solution for absences related to FMLA and state leave laws, as well as other corporate leaves.

“Ten years ago we turned to Unum for a simple and effective way for AOL HR to handle leave laws,” said Gillian Pon, Vice President of Total Rewards & Operations at AOL. “What they delivered was a superior leave management program that is easy to use for our employees and simplifies what used to be a time-consuming administrative task for our HR team. We couldn’t be happier to still be a partner of Unum’s a decade later.”

Unum responded to this customer need by developing its own robust leave management system and building a dedicated team of FMLA and state leave law experts, integrated with Unum’s short term disability benefit operations.

“We felt it was important to develop and manage this program internally so we could build a system that would not only meet AOL’s needs at the time, but would also allow us to tailor the program for future customers,” Hecker said. “We were one of only a few carriers to develop the system and expertise in-house from the very beginning. Our leave management team now has more than 140 employees and works with businesses with as few as 100 employees up to those with thousands.”

FMLA Legislation

Initially passed in 1993, the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) requires employers to provide, among other things, up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave to employees for certain family and medical situations. The federal law continues to evolve and expand, and more than 30 states have passed an additional 130 laws addressing employee leave entitlements, adding to the complexity of managing employee leave.

The difficulty of adhering to state and federal leave laws can be a daunting task for businesses and their human resource departments. The risk of failing to comply with leave requirements can result in millions of dollars in legal expenses against an employer.

“If the leave request or ongoing management is not handled properly, a business is exposed to the risk of litigation,” said Angela Ripper, assistant vice president and senior counsel for Unum. “It can easily become overwhelming and underscores the need for professional oversight.”

Customers benefit from Unum’s team of dedicated legal experts with more than 40 years of combined experience, who work closely with the U.S. Department of Labor to stay current on all new laws, regulations and case law. In addition, Unum delivers its service with one of the strongest indemnity guarantees in the industry.

“Nearly 20 years after FMLA, many employers are still not aware of the solutions available to them,” Hecker said. “As state and federal leave laws continue to expand, we expect more employers will be looking for help in managing these challenges, and Unum continues to make significant investments in its Leave Management Service so that we are able to respond to this growing need.”

About Unum

Unum (www.unum.com) is one of the leading providers of employee benefits products and services in the United States and the United Kingdom. Through its subsidiaries, Unum Group paid approximately $6 billion in total benefits to customers in 2009.