In this piece in the Boston Business Journal, our Vice President, Prabal Lakhanpal, sets the stage for the current healthcare landscape and alternative strategies employers can take in order to offset costs and other challenges.
Women Can Have It All, If We Support Them
An industry has been created to help respond to the age-old question: “Can women have it all?”
Almost ten years ago, in 2013, we first heard Sheryl Sandberg’s self-coined phrase ‘lean in’, encouraging women to lean in to opportunities that put them in a more equitable position in their careers – to not be afraid to ask for a raise or promotion, and generally know their worth, and demand what that entails. In 2016, Paradigm for Parity was founded to get more women into the c-suite by 2030. Since then, organizations like Chief, have been founded to give C-Suite women the place and space they need to build networks and grow as leaders of their own.
As I reflect on this on International Women’s Day, I am eternally grateful for the efforts of these women – and those who came before them – who have provided guidance, made space, and advocated to help advance other women. Few efforts are more than helping to elevate other women.
And, while I believe women can have it all – I know that for so many, including myself, it has come at a cost. We are on double duty all the time.
Since my mother’s generation, women have come a long way in terms of what is available to them at a professional level. Gone are the days that the only careers available to women are teacher, nurse or secretary. Today, women are CEOs and pioneers of companies at an increasing rate, and I could not be more excited for what that means for our future, but also for my own daughter.
With that said, that “cost of having it all” remains high. Even women who make similar salaries as their male partners, or who are the breadwinners in their family, often still bear the brunt of household and/or childcare duties. A successful career might mean being less present in a child’s life, or being unable to care for an aging parent, or even lacking the time to find love and nurture a romantic relationship, or simply being prohibited from doing anything for yourself.
I want to be clear that I believe women can have it all, I am just looking forward to the day society sets women up to not only have it all, but supports them in the process.
The COVID-19 pandemic shined a bright light on the ways in which our society has failed to provide for or support women. Within the first three months of the pandemic, 3.5 million mothers left the workforce due to childcare or caregiving responsibilities as well as layoffs and furloughs. The loss inspired a movement, the Marshall Plan for Moms, to center mothers in the economic recovery of the country, providing financial support to mothers for the labor they provide at home. And while the workforce is recovering, and a million women returned in 2021 – we are not yet where we were pre-pandemic.
I keep coming back to the resilience of women. While countless individuals quit their jobs in November of 2021, Women used this momentum to their advantage – to not only rejoin the workforce, but to ‘lean in’ and ensure they were getting what they wanted. Unlike a year ago, or in March of 2020, there are many jobs available, and most companies have taken a fresh look at salaries and benefits to gain a competitive hiring edge. Women make up 66% of the insurance industry, for example, but there seems to be a dearth of women leadership roles.
All I can say is: now is the time.
Now is the time to ask for that promotion, to make a lateral move that may have greater dividends in the long-term, and to advocate for yourself and for all women to get ahead.
At Spring, we are proud to have incredible female leaders. As Managing Partner and co-founder, I faced a fair amount of adversity to get to where I am in the insurance/financial sector. Thus, I wanted to create a culture of diversity, equity and inclusion when I ventured out to start my own consultancy.
For one, I have always fought for pay equity at Spring and fair hiring and advancement practices. Karen English, Spring’s Senior Vice President, has joined me on that journey. Karen brings in some of our biggest pieces of business and is a well-known thought leader in the leave and absence management space. She even plays an HR role within Spring, and does it all while raising two teenage kids, for whom she prioritizes basketball games and science fairs.
Then we have Teri Weber, Senior Vice President, who is a true queen of all trades – from internal IT help, to driving our health and welfare accounts, to being a rockstar speaker, an amazing baker, and an attentive mother of two teenage girls.
Anne Baldwin heads up our finance department and has revolutionized the way we keep our books. Christine Culgin leads our marketing. Within our broader Alera Group family, we are lucky to have many women executives, including our COO, our VP of Compliance, our Employee Benefits Practice Leader, our CHRO, and others. We even have a women’s mentorship program.
We are fortunate to be living in a time where there is so much support and advocacy for women to have it all, and I am proud to lead a company that helps to advance that effort. But so much more is needed.
More support and networking opportunities must exist for women early on in their careers and women who cannot afford expensive membership dues. More organizations need to pledge pay parity. More organizations need to prioritize training and mentorship, with the goal of fostering honest dialogues and creating an atmosphere where employees feel supported and safe in speaking up and advocating for themselves. We need a sharper focus on communications, and employee engagement – for women and men.
As I look forward to International Women’s Days to come, I am committed to working toward a society that doesn’t just allow women to have it all, but supports them in getting there.
Until then, let’s keep fighting the good fight!
As seen in the New England Benefits Council (NEEBC) blog.
We are one year into eligible Massachusetts employees being able to apply for paid leave benefits under the Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) program. Although stats for the MA PFML Rookie Year have not been released yet, the first six months were telling:
- Over 53,000 applications, with 23% being denied
- 58% of applications were related to medical leave and the remaining for bonding, given that care for a family member with a serious illness was not yet a covered reason
- Only 18 applications for military exigency leave and 6 applications to care for a service member
- Employees aged 30-39 submitted the most applications (35%) and more than twice as many women applied for leave, compared to men
- Average weekly benefits were $705.98 for family leave and $699.00 for medical leave
- Turnaround times, once the Department of Family and Medical Leave (DFML) received all data including employer responses, took a median of 12 days to make a claim determination
- Average duration of leave was 53 days (57 days for medical leave and 51.5 days for family leave)
- Total benefits paid was equal to about $168 million (about $92 million for medical and $76 million for family leave)
While we await data for season of 2021, let’s dissect the highs and lows and see if MA PFML has a shot at Rookie of the Year!
Let’s start with the highs:
The plan appears to be running at a sustainable level with sufficient funding, indicated by a reduction in contribution rates, which is good for residents of the Commonwealth.
Employers were able to successfully create private plans without significant hurdles in the process, allowing MA firms to continue their history of rich benefit designs without negatively impacting corporate plans.
Massachusetts has been a strong example of early and broad education of the program. Individuals in the state were told about benefits that may be available to them in plenty of time before the program went live, giving them the opportunity to ask questions and better understand what their experience might be in the case they need leave. The state hosted various webinars to different audiences, providing real time information and continuous updates on the status of the program’s launch. The website houses a multitude of helpful information and is continually updated. For questions not answered in these channels, individuals may also call the DFML for benefit questions or the Department of Revenue (DOR) for questions concerning private plans or contributions, and the state is typically always able to answer even in-depth questions.
While the state has had multiple home runs implementing a PFML program, just like evaluating Rookies of the Year like Jonathan India and Kyle Lewis, we need to think of the swing-and-a-miss situations as well. The most significant strike for the MA PFML was their system:
- The system for PFML administration continues to lag with the most significant unexpected deficiency likely related to their inability to handle intermittent leaves which are the most challenging and frustrating for employers.
- Employer access was an obstacle, leaving employers without the ability to “monitor” claims or have insight into the status at a time when COVID claims and time away from work were skyrocketing.
- Another systematic issue was linking contribution with plans. Since contributions are due at the close of the quarter, claims could be reported prior to contributions being paid. Unfortunately, those triggered denials as employers struggled to notify the state, register and swap from private plans to the state plan. Employees were given conflicting information as employers tried to resolve this gap in “coverage.”
Just like anyone’s first year in the pros, our first year with MA PFML threw us curveballs we did not expect, and as a result, we have learned some important lessons. The ever-evolving landscape of PFML laws has put pressure on employers with employees across the country, as they try to meet employee needs while balancing corporate responsibilities and equity. As we all become more seasoned players in this complex game of leave, Spring has outlined some best practices for employers handling PFML:
- State plans should act as guidance for internal company policies. Mimicking a state plan could be restrictive as new programs emerge and existing programs evolve.
- Have a clear understanding of the definition of eligible employees under each statutory and/or federal law. Someone considered an employee in Massachusetts may not be considered an employee in Connecticut (e.g., 1099 contractors).
- All leave policies should be run concurrently, to the extent possible. The Federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) will generally run concurrently with MA PFML and other PFML laws when an employee meets the eligibility conditions of both plans.
- Private plans offer the most flexibility with plan provisions and aligning leave with other corporate leaves, however state plans seem to be simpler administratively. Carefully weighing these pros and cons is key to developing an adaptive leave program.
The replay we are watching the most, however, is that COVID-19 significantly increased the complexity of such a program. The need for leave has been exacerbated. Difficulty hiring employees has affected employers who must keep up productivity while more employees are away from their jobs, and the state had to administer a new leave program under less-than-ideal conditions. In addition, the tremendous growth of remote work has made it difficult for employers to determine where an employee may be eligible for leave.
Overall, workforces are evolving and regulations at the local, state and federal level need to be continually monitored. As we see benefits become available under new programs, such as CT PFML, and other states pass bills to develop PFML programs, such as New Hampshire and Maine, employers will need to assess their strategies and evolve accordingly.