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NEW YORK, Feb. 22, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Employee leave management is becoming an increasingly complex issue for employers, particularly for companies seeking to promote a healthy and productive workforce and maintain compliance with leave laws. In order to facilitate a dialogue on this multifaceted topic, The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America® (Guardian) and ReedGroup hosted an educational forum for brokers and employers yesterday at Guardian's headquarters in New York.

During the Guardian/ReedGroup 2019 Leave Management Symposium, more than 180 attendees met to discuss key components of leave management, including state leave laws, compliance challenges, industry trends, and client best practices on improving the employee experience. Headlining the Symposium was keynote speaker Carol Harnett, President of the Council for Disability Awareness, and expert on health care and employee absences. She focused on today's consumers and their desire for family paid leave policies that promote employee health and productivity. In addition, attendees received a preview of insights from Guardian's upcoming 2019 Absence Management & Activity Index Study, scheduled to be released in March.

"Today, we are receiving increasing interest from companies for more leave management support and solutions as a result of the evolving regulatory landscape and their desire to improve workforce health and productivity," said Marc Costantini, Executive Vice President, Commercial and Government Markets at Guardian. "Employers are not only intent on staying compliant but in also creating a holistic leave management approach that focuses on the employees and their return-to-work experience. It's a win-win for the employer and employee if it's done the right way."

Symposium Highlights

The Symposium offered insights for attendees interested in learning how they can implement and evolve leave management practices that are focused on the employee. They heard industry experts delve into four hot topics related to leave management:

• Tom Parry, IBI; Terri Rhodes, DMEC; and Steve Coffman, Guardian, led a panel, moderated by Gene Lanzoni, Guardian, about leave management market trends. The trio highlighted that activity is on the rise across the industry prompting employers to seek best practices to improve their business outcomes and overall employee experience.
• "Leveraging Insights from MD Guidelines," presented by Fraser Gasper, PhD, MPH, ReedGroup, highlighted that greater access to diagnosis data has led to better outcomes, and that following evidence-based guidelines can help reduce healing time and medical costs.
• Paid family and medical leave laws were a hot topic, and Guardian's Judy Buczek and ReedGroup's James Venable and Susan Woods gathered for a panel titled, "Let's Talk Leave Law: Ask the Compliance Experts." The conversation focused on the diverse range of paid leave legislation advancing through state governments, how untangling the compliance landscape is becoming increasingly complicated for any business, and how any missteps can potentially lead to fines, penalties or employee litigation.
• Finally, Kevin Curry from ReedGroup moderated a "Leave Best Practices: Employer Panel" highlighting best practices from leading companies on what they are doing to foster a healthy and productive workforce with positive leave management policies.

Adds Costantini: "The Symposium was a valuable opportunity for us to create a forum where attendees could discuss and exchange ideas with industry leaders on how they can improve leave management. We also dedicated time to provide an overview of the states that are currently considering leave laws, as we anticipate more companies, large and small, will need a trusted partner to help them navigate the complexities."

To speak with an expert at either Guardian or ReedGroup regarding leave management, contact Brenda Mendoza at Brenda_Mendoza@glic.com. To learn more about Guardian's work on leave management, visit here. To learn about ReedGroup, a Guardian Company, click here.  

Media Contact:

Brenda Mendoza Messinger
Guardian
T: 212.919.3521 | Brenda_Mendoza@glic.com

About Guardian

Every day, Guardian provides Americans the security they deserve through our insurance and wealth management products and services. Since our founding in 1860, our long-term view has helped our customers prepare for whatever life brings whether starting a family, planning for the future or taking care of employees. Today, we're a Fortune 250 mutual company and a leading provider of life, dental, disability and other benefits for individuals, at the workplace and through government sponsored programs. The Guardian community of 9,000 employees and our network of over 2,750 financial representatives is committed to serving with expertise when, where and how our clients need us. Our commitments rest on a strong financial foundation, which at year-end 2017 included $8.0 billion in capital and $1.6 billion in operating income. For more information, please visit guardianlife.com or follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube. 

About ReedGroup

ReedGroup, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America®, is
a leading leave of absence management organization providing outsourcing, software and compliance services to nearly half of the Fortune 100 companies. With 2,000 employees, ReedGroup has operations across the United States, Canada, and India. To learn more follow ReedGroup on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. You can also subscribe to blogs, compliance webinars and events.

The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America, New York, NY. GUARDIAN^® is a registered trademark of The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America ^®
2018-75104 (Exp. 2/20)

SOURCE The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America