Voya Financial launches new Leave Management solution to help employers simplify administration of paid-time-off benefits

MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE: VOYA), announced today that its Employee Benefits business has launched a new Voya Leave Management offering to deliver a fully integrated service to make the process easier for employers to manage paid time off for their workforce, while providing their employees with a high-touch, proactive customer service experience. Voya is actively selling this comprehensive leave management solution, and it will be available to workplace clients and their employees effective Jan. 1, 2021.

The landscape for U.S. businesses trying to manage paid time off for their workforce is complex. In addition to adhering to their own company leave policies, employers must comply with federal and state provisions — for example, like the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) — as well as constantly monitor pending legislation. For perspective, more than 30 states currently have active Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) legislation,² which has led to large employers increasingly looking for support from outside benefits providers. Industry research¹ shows that almost half (47%) of companies with 1,000 or more employees outsource their FMLA administration, which is up from 35% in 2014.

“On average, U.S. businesses are responsible for supporting more than 200 different types of paid leaves and absences.³ This includes managing employee sick and vacation time, as well as providing extended time off from work when an employee has a baby or needs to care for an aging or sick parent,” said Rob Grubka, president, Voya Employee Benefits. “Our new Voya Leave Management offering helps simplify the many administrative responsibilities that employers have in managing multiple forms of leave, while also making the process easier for employees. For employers, it provides fully integrated leave management services for: short- and long-term disability administration; federal, state and company-specific leaves; paid family leave; and administration of ADA leaves. For employees taking a leave of absence, they will work with a single case specialist — from start to finish — to help encourage a high-touch, proactive customer service experience during what may already be a difficult or stressful time.”

Key benefits of Voya Leave Management

• Comprehensive Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) solution — Voya Leave Management services offer employers an alternative to internally administering FMLA to help reduce costs and liability through fair, accurate and consistent FMLA administration. Employers will have access to a 24-hour online portal that is accessible by most mobile devices and provides real-time claim status and robust reporting tools. The reports that employers have access to supply the reason for the absence, return-to-work date, as well as a calendar of current and upcoming absences for each manager’s team. Additionally, employees will have access to the online portal where they will be able to start a new claim, update an existing claim, access real-time claim status, view remaining leave balances, upload documents and download forms, send a note to their case specialist, and access federal and state regulations.
  
  
• Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Stay at Work (SAW) solutions — Voya Leave Management can help employers comply with the ADA by managing leave of absence requests, accommodation requests, and SAW accommodation requests. Voya’s SAW program is designed to support and assist employees to help them continue performing their job functions under the guidelines of the ADA. SAW is a proactive approach to providing reasonable accommodations that can help employees continue to perform the essential duties of their job when they are having difficulty as a result of a physical or mental condition or limitation. In some cases, it may eliminate the need for an employee to file for a leave of absence.
  
  
• Streamlined claims management and high-touch customer service — Voya Leave Management offers job protection, disability benefits, work accommodations and SAW — all managed in one place. To provide personalized customer service, one case specialist is assigned to manage all types of leaves and will call the employee within 48 hours, once they receive a claim notification, to share their direct contact information. On average, Voya case specialists will only handle between 50 and 60 active cases — which is considerably less than some benefits providers, from Voya’s experience — to offer an individualized, high-touch experience for the employee. Proactive and customized communications can also be sent to employees to keep them informed throughout the process and help reduce the number of questions to an employer’s human resources department. Plus, innovative technology allows employees to conveniently upload necessary documentation or receipts by taking a picture and submitting from their mobile phone, which is then shared directly with their dedicated case specialist.

“In addition to providing fully integrated disability and absence-management services that help employers comply with federal and state regulations, one of the biggest differentiators of Voya’s Leave Management offering is our customer service experience,” said Lou Strippy, vice president, Life & Disability Distribution and National Accounts, Voya Employee Benefits. “Our experience shows that some benefits providers have their case specialists manage well over 100 active cases. At Voya, we are focused on providing individuals with the personalized support they deserve. On average, our case specialist will only manage between 50 and 60 actives cases and will contact an employee, once they receive a claim notification, within 48 hours to share their direct contact information. Plus, our case specialists are equipped to handle all types of leaves, which makes for an easier, streamlined process for both employers and their employees.”

“Through our Stay at Work (SAW) program, Voya is also taking a proactive approach to providing reasonable accommodations to help employees stay on the job, which may eliminate the need for an employee to file for a leave,” explained Alexandra Dumont, market line leader, Life, Absence and Disability, Voya Employee Benefits. “For example, if someone is recovering from carpal tunnel surgery, a reasonable accommodation could be providing them with a split keyboard to take pressure off their wrists. Our SAW program is intended to help employers: reduce the time employees miss work; increase employee retention, productivity and satisfaction; and — most importantly — help their employees with a physical or mental condition or limitation be appropriately supported so they can perform their job to the best of their ability.”

In addition to leave management services, Voya Employee Benefits offers stop loss, group life, disability and supplemental health insurance products through the workplace, as well as health savings and spending accounts, to employers and their employees. The business has extensive experience in the design, implementation and administration of employee benefits plans, and it offers a full range of supplemental insurance products that include critical illness/specified disease, accident, hospital indemnity and disability income insurance.

As an industry leader and advocate for helping Americans retire better, Voya Financial is committed to delivering on its vision to be America’s Retirement Company^®, and its mission to make a secure financial future possible — one person, one family, one institution at a time.

1) 2018 DMEC Employer Leave Management Survey White Paper, March 2018

2) Paid Family and Medical Leave Policies in the States; National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), Feb. 6, 2020

3) Statistics from the U.S. Department of Labor

About Voya Financial^®

Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE: VOYA), helps Americans plan, invest and protect their savings — to get ready to retire better. Serving the financial needs of approximately 13.8 million individual and institutional customers in the United States, Voya is a Fortune 500 company that had $7.5 billion in revenue in 2019. The company had $538 billion in total assets under management and administration as of March 31, 2020. With a clear mission to make a secure financial future possible — one person, one family, one institution at a time — Voya’s vision is to be America’s Retirement Company^®. Certified as a “Great Place to Work” by the Great Place to Work^® Institute, Voya is equally committed to conducting business in a way that is socially, environmentally, economically and ethically responsible. Voya has been recognized as a 2020 World’s Most Admired Company by Fortune magazine; one of the 2020 World’s Most Ethical Companies^® by the Ethisphere Institute; as a member of the Bloomberg Gender Equality Index; and as a “Best Place to Work for Disability Inclusion” on the Disability Equality Index by Disability:IN. For more information, visit voya.com. Follow Voya Financial on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter @Voya.

Voya Leave Management services are provided in part by Disability RMS, Inc.

Health Savings and Spending Accounts are accounts offered by Voya Benefits Company, LLC (in New York, doing business as Voya BC, LLC) and administered by WEX Health, Inc.

Insurance products are issued by ReliaStar Life Insurance Company (Minneapolis, MN) and ReliaStar Life Insurance Company of New York (Woodbury, NY). Within the State of New York, only ReliaStar Life Insurance Company of New York is admitted, and its products issued. Both are members of the Voya^® family of companies. Voya Employee Benefits is a division of both companies. Product availability and specific provisions may vary by state.