There are many different factors causing businesses to rethink benefit offerings, including paid family leave. Millennials make up a significant part of the working demographic and adults between 40-59 are the latest sandwich generation – caring for a minor child and their aging parents. Federal legislation is in the works and five states and the District of Colombia have passed or implemented statewide paid family leave benefits. More states are considering the same. Here’s what you need to consider as you decide whether to offer paid family leave.

The Workforce Is Changing and So Are Benefit Plans

As discussed in “With Today’s Changing Workforce Demographic, Companies That Want to Succeed Would Do Well to Offer This Employee Benefit,” posted on Entrepreneur.com, millennials make up the largest demographic in the workforce today. Baby boomers are retiring, nearly 47% of employees are entering the sandwich generation, and millennials are starting families. The face of employees is changing and so are family needs and goals.

Many businesses offer a variety of benefit programs, including paid time off for sick and vacation time, short and long-term disability, among other options. Employers are finding that offering paid family leave eases the struggle for their employees balancing home and family obligations with work productivity.

Paid family leave programs have been implemented in these five states: New Jersey, California, Rhode Island, New York and Washington, as well as the District of Colombia.

Sixteen other states are proposing similar legislation and federal legislation has been introduced to the Senate. It’s important to note that even if your business isn’t located in one of the current states using this benefit program, you may be required to offer coverage to employees living in that state.

Attract Top Talent, Tip the Scales in Your Favor

Just as you are actively searching and competing for top talent, so are your competitors. Offering new and innovative benefits, like paid family leave, could tip the scales in your favor. Should you determine that offering a paid family leave program is a good option for your business, you want to make sure you do it right from the start.

Comprehensive Leave Manager seamlessly integrates with Microsoft Dynamics® GP Payroll and streamlines leave management. You can create and track any type of leave, including:

• Sick and vacation time
• Personal time
• Administrative leave
• Comp time
• Volunteer time
• Other designated leave plans including paid family leave

After establishing the forms of leave you offer to employees, Comprehensive Leave Manager helps you:

• automate management of accrual schedules, carry-over rules, and probationary periods
• establish and automatically calculate maximums, balance caps and carry over limits
• use mass assignment tools to streamline mass transactions
• integrate with Microsoft Dynamics with no extra steps from your payroll team

Benefit programs can be a valuable way to attract and retain top talent. In addition, as paid family leave legislation is introduced in other areas, it may soon become time for you to offer this new benefit. Take a proactive step and manage your leave effectively by deploying Comprehensive Leave Manager. Contact Integrity Data for more information about this powerful solution and other time-saving payroll and benefit management solutions.