In addition to everyday responsibilities, managers have duties that may not happen as often but are just as important – including being the first point of contact and support for employees taking a leave of absence. This episode of Lincoln Absence Advisor brings together Lincoln absence and legal professionals to discuss what managers need to know as they help guide employees before, during, and after an absence. We’ll explore how managers can recognize the need for leave, offer support while respecting privacy, and help returning employees ease back in their role after their leave is done.
© 2022 Lincoln National Corporation. All rights reserved. LCN-4727664-050522
In addition to everyday responsibilities, managers have duties that may not happen as often but are just as important – including being the first point of contact and support for employees taking a leave of absence. This episode of Lincoln Absence Advisor brings together Lincoln absence and legal professionals to discuss what managers need to know as they help guide employees before, during, and after an absence. We’ll explore how managers can recognize the need for leave, offer support while respecting privacy, and help returning employees ease back in their role after their leave is done.
© 2022 Lincoln National Corporation. All rights reserved. LCN-4727664-050522
Hi everyone. This is Karen Batson Marketing Manager at Lincoln Financial Group. In today's episode of Lincoln Absence Advisor, we discuss the manager's role during an employee's absence from work. I'm joined by Sarah Montgomery, AVP and senior counsel, Tracy Duncan, absence consultant manager, and Stacy Pick, vocational services manager. And we dive into best practices, do's and don'ts, things to consider during each phase of an absence from leading up to it to returning to work. You know, this topic comes up often in our conversations and webinars, but we never get to have a deep dive into various aspects of it until today. So I hope you enjoy today's episode. Hi, everyone, welcome to the podcast.
Sarah Montgomery:Hi Karen.
Karen Batson:I appreciate you guys joining. Did you know actually, this is going to be our 50th episode of the podcast. Makes you special guests.
Sarah Montgomery:Thank you. That's exciting.
Karen Batson:It's very exciting.
Sarah Montgomery:What was the first episode?
Karen Batson:That's right.You're on the first and the 50th Oh, gosh, Sarah means you're in it for the 100th episode. I'm sorry.
Sarah Montgomery:Congratulations, that shows you lots of progress, which is good.
Karen Batson:Absolutely. So we're going to talk about the managers role today in regards to an employee's absence. But before we jump in, let's do some introductions, how you're connected to the leave disability product and maybe a little bit about your manager experience. Sara,hdo you want to start?
Sarah Montgomery:Sure. Thanks, Karen. My name is Sarah Montgomery, I lead the legal and compliance team that is responsible for all the legal and compliance issues related to our absence services, accommodation services, and statutory disability products.
Stacey Pick:Hi, my name is Stacy Pick. And I work within our clinical organization as a vocational manager. I manage a team of Voc Rehab consultants and part of my team assist individuals who are on short term and long term disability returned back to work once they're on a claim.
Tracey Duncan:Yes, hi, I'm Tracy Duncan. I'm the director of absence consulting. And I manage a team of consultants who work with our regional and national customers to provide guidance expertise on their absence programs that we're administering for them. So we're living and breathing, absence day in and day out.
Karen Batson:I think this is a good crew to talk about the manager role then. So what's interesting, I find interesting now that we've done different Lincoln Absence Advisor content is, I feel like we often mention the importance of the managers role in our webinars and in podcast conversations, but we never have a full conversation about it. And that's kind of why this topic came up. So from your perspective, how important is this role in the absence process?
Tracey Duncan:I think it's extremely important, it really can influence the entire employee experience, really starting from preparing to go out to their ongoing motivation to return to work. And then of course, feeling supported while they're on that leave.
Stacey Pick:I would agree, Tracy,
Sarah Montgomery:I agree. It's the as the manager you are the people who report to you, you're their first place they go to, to look for advice on how to get started on what to do. So it's very important kind of the tone you set, As Tracey mentioned, really does lead how that employee experiences their leave, and how they approach it, how they feel about it, and how supportive they are, as they go out. There's only really one group of people who are going out on leave, because anything good is happening in their life. And that's people who are going out on bonding leave for a newborn adoptive or foster child placement within their home, but everybody else is usually taking care of a ill family member or taking care of their own serious medical conditions. So they've got a lot going on a lot of anxiety about not only what's going on with them, but then what's gonna be going on with their job, what kind of wage replacement they're going to be getting, whether their job protection attached their leave, how long they can take, and you know how they're going to return to work safely and well, hopefully, on the other side, having a good outcome on whatever's going on with them or with their loved one.
Karen Batson:You know, it's interesting, you know, we talk about kind of the science and structure behind leave of absences, but from the employee perspective, you know, those reasons are very personal. And so that connection with your manager, I would think is also kind of a trusted one and all becomes kind of personal to the employee.
Tracey Duncan:Absolutely.
Karen Batson:So, as leaders of teams yourselves, how have you learned these types of responsibilities in the managers role?
Sarah Montgomery:So when I became a manager, I underwent some specialized trainings that were available to managers to specifically deal with kind of employee confidentiality and in taking requests for different kinds of leaves specific to this conversation as people go out on leave and other issues that come up around just generally when you're managing a team, what's kept confidential how you have performance discussions. Discussions around different things that are going on assigning work. And then a big part of that is what happens if your employee needs time off, whether it's for their own medical condition or to take care of another family member, whether it's a paid leave or disability situation. So that's how at least my experience I don't know if Tracey and Stacey had something different.
Stacey Pick:I think in addition to the the training that's available to learn about the different types of leaves, but even just each situation that you experience, when someone goes on leave is a learning experience in regards to how to present the the leave opportunities that are available to them, how you're going to support them, preparing for their leave, and coming back. So I think understanding that employees needs is, is a huge piece as well.
Tracey Duncan:I also think a big part of learning is by seeing what other leaders in the organization model, whether you're a part of a team, when you're an initial individual contributor, and you see how manager doesn't review yourself, maybe have needed to leave in the past, I know I've had one leave in my life, and seeing how my manager helped guide me through that made me feel very supported. And I took from that when I became a manager as well. But it is one of those one of those areas that while you have to have a good understanding of what the policy is, it's one of those things that you don't really know the details of until someone on your team needs it, or until you yourself need it, perhaps. So I think it's really important to have that awareness, but also know where to get the additional information when you need it at that point in time.
Sarah Montgomery:Oh, yeah, that's definitely what happens is that what reads in the employee handbook, or what appears on the internet is very different from the actual how you go in and enter your time into the HR system to make sure it's coded correctly. So there's a there's a lot to it.
Karen Batson:Why do you think, you know, it isn't always an immediate recognition when someone goes into a manager role of like how important a this relationship is, and and guiding them through that absence they might have?
Tracey Duncan:I think some of that's just the frequency with which folks take leaves of absence. I mean, depending on the team or the nature of the work, it might be extremely infrequent. And it I think, is something that managers may not proactively reach out for, because they, they feel they have to have that hands off or arm's length approach, because it's, it's medical, they don't want to say or do the wrong thing. But that really is why it's even more important to have the training so that they know where those guardrails are and how they can support the employee through the through whatever their absence is, without stepping over a line.
Karen Batson:Do does the manager have a right if an employee brings something up, that could be a leave reason to say that and be be proactive? And tell them they have the options? Even if the employees aren't approaching them? Specifically about that?
Tracey Duncan:Yes, it's really part of their responsibility. So absolutely, that that's one of the biggest reasons why the training is needs to be fundamental for all managers.
Sarah Montgomery:Yeah, because you are, you know, it's our obligation as managers to understand and recognize somebody's need for leave, even if they're not sure what they're asking for. So if it was, if somebody's coming to you with kind of difficulty, whether it's mental health or physical health, then they need some time off to, you know, to be supportive and to gently talk to them about, you know, options that may be available, or encourage them to use different tools to contact HR or get in touch with other people in the organization that they can have confidential conversations with about what resources and leave types are available. So it's really, but again, like as a manager, you're the point of contact to whether it's you individually or connecting them with other people in the organization to really help them find out what their options are, so that they're feeling supported, and they're getting the time off that they
Tracey Duncan:I just wanted to ask Stacey's opinion, because with your unique role, you must have a whole team of folks who probably feel that they can do it on their own, or may not feel that they need to approach you. So you, I'm wondering your about your perspective to of how you encourage them to come to you with with those items. But yet, make sure that you're not intruding,
Stacey Pick:I kind of almost feel that sometimes with the role that we do have Tracey, you're correct. There's there's a lot of things that they can understand and figure out on their own. But that's kind of where I feel like even listening to the conversations that I have with people on one on ones and different things that they have going on where I really do need to hone in on some of some of the nonverbal things that they're saying in regards to some of the challenges that they may be experiencing. And like Sarah said, being aware of the different types of leaves that are out there and in gently encouraging exploration into some of those tools and resources that are there to help them in ways that they may need it.
Tracey Duncan:Hope I didn't put you on the spot.
Karen Batson:Stacey do you mind briefly explaining what your people do so people can understand why they might be a little more in tune.
Stacey Pick:Part of my team helps individuals that are on short term and long term disability, explore return to work options. And so when we're working with individuals that are on on claim, what we do is we look at transferable skills that individuals have and explore return to work opportunities either with their own employer or begin exploring opportunities outside of, of their employer within their their physical abilities. So we might talk about different types of accommodations or specific role changes.
Karen Batson:So kind of going back to that identifying ahead of time that has got to have become more confusing with the leave landscape of the things that an employee can be covered for, I think a lot about the bigger conversation around caregiving and how they're more leaves for that. So does that make a manager want to stay away from it? Is it more confusing, it's just gonna be a whole tumble of things in the managers mind.
Tracey Duncan:And they might not even be aware of all the options that are out there. I mean, there's federal state company benefits and some local benefits, too. So you might think that, you know, FMLA, maybe you're comfortable with that as a manager, and you know, oh, siblings aren't covered. So sorry, all I can offer you is PTO time, but maybe there is some other type of leave, or even a company program that does cover siblings, and having to care for non traditional family members that are non traditional in that they weren't historically covered under FMLA. So I do think it's confusing. And that also contributes to managers, again, not wanting to step over the line or give inaccurate information. But that's also why it just is so important that managers understand where to go to get that information and to phone a friend internally, whether that's the benefits area, human resources, wherever that might be. But making sure it's really in neon, where managers can go for that information to ensure they're providing the right guidance right up front.
Sarah Montgomery:Because even though the FMLA is the oldest program, it's based on a really old definition of family member. And what we're seeing with new paid leave programs that are coming on is that they're expanding into in law, relationships, grandparents, and then even affinity relationships too that cover you l employees be eligible take leave for people who, that they have a relationship that is close enough to be like family, that they would consider family that they. So the definition is really evolving to take into account all different kinds of relationships and family structures, which is good. But as Tracey and Stacey said, it's really, it's very confusing . We all do this every day. We're in and out of this every day. So it's top of mind for us. But you know, for people who are going through it, as I said, can help'cause there's all the emotional stuff going on with the two that they have to navigate the paperwork, making sure all the things are done correctly so that they're okay in their leave is correctly documented and supported for their employer to be able to approve the leave out and make sure that they're covered as long as they need within the confines of how much leave is available under the given program.
Stacey Pick:I think that part is even challenging, because I know like with my own experiences of working with people, I have individuals on my team that are in, in multiple states. And so there's, there's also just different guidelines and regulations that kind of are different in between that too. And I don't typically work with a lot of leaves. And so my my experience with with leaves is truly when my team members go out on one or one of our co workers do so not fully understanding all of those aspects is challenging also, in having somebody to reach out to like Tracey said, like having that neon sign in, in the employer websites on where to go to find stuff to lead you to that direction to get those answers is huge.
Karen Batson:So is that like the number one tip we would give to employers listening right now help prepare your managers have a whole section to your intranet site of all the identifiers?
Tracey Duncan:Make it easily searchable.
Stacey Pick:Yes, I agree.
Sarah Montgomery:And where possible, really lay it out there in terms that everybody can understand as much as possible that it's which state you're in what you might be entitled to what the company paid leaves are, how they coordinate together, whether you can take it intermittently. In all of these things to what makes it difficult. There's there's so facts specific since sometimes somebody will start with continuous leave, it'll move to an intermittent leave, it may switch back to a continuous one, right? So there could be a lot of moving parts. But make it as easy to locate the information as possible is really, really helpful so that employees can kind of take a look at what information is out there and then helps reassure them and then go and have a more kind of informed discussion with either one of us as a manager or, you know, the HR and benefits team be able to feel like they're have a little more information going into a conversation about how their leave is going to look based on what's going on.
Karen Batson:Let's shift gears slightly and let's say the employee knows what leaves they're going to cover as the employee prepares for the absence how involved with them, should the manager be what activities or conversations might they need to have?
Tracey Duncan:Well, when you have the benefit of knowing in advance that you're going to need to leave often like Sarah, Sarah said, sometimes that's a good experience, it's going to be a maternity leave. Sometimes it might be a surgery, or you know, a family member is going to be having a surgery. So when you have the benefit of knowing in advance, managers should take that as a gift. And make sure that they're utilizing that to the fullest extent possible to make that not only an easier experience for the employee, but for their team, that's, that's really left behind. Because they have to worry about depending on the nature of the role, it might be something as simple as just needing coverage for the shifts that they will miss. But it might be more day to day tactical, as far as what projects need management, what customers are going to need to be having an alternative contact identified. So you need that logistical piece of who's covering the work, what projects are going on, if any, that either need to be wrapped up or transferred temporarily to someone else. So of course, I think as a manager, that's first and foremost in your mind. But there's other pieces to that as well, I think it was Sarah talked about their internal direction. First off, hopefully, if they already know this, at this point, they're good there. But maybe they're gonna have a question about where their pay is coming from, while they're out and things like that. So making sure that they have all of all of that set up. And personally, I think it's never too early to talk about return to work expectations, maybe they don't know how long they're gonna need to be out. But it's a great opportunity to set a plan for how they can reach out to you stay in touch, let you know, you know, or you let them know, as their manager, if there's anything that they need to help facilitate that return to work. Start those lines of communication now, so that they know what you're prepared to do. And you also might get an inkling depending on how much information they're comfortable sharing with you what things you might need to think about to help facilitate that return to work as soon as possible. Whenever it is safe for them to come back to work.
Sarah Montgomery:I agree, always being able to plan, it's the perfect world scenario, because then the person who's going out is able to we're able to get them squared away. And as Tracy said, like, get the team organized for who's going to be on covering the work and making sure that, you know, our customers are in our business like that our customers have the right context. And our internal business partners know whose covering while someone's out on leave.
Karen Batson:While something is important point of like just starting to open communication and being a support system. And in that degree, I'm sure makes the employee feel like at least they have a conduit someone to reach out to, even if the manager then sends them somewhere else, as we pointed out, at least you feel secure in knowing someone's there. Now what about unplanned? How does that change? Because we know that that makes it a little different? How does that first part of the absence change for the manager and what they should be doing?
Tracey Duncan:Well, you're probably in a little bit more scramble mode. Trying to confirm and prioritize coverage, maybe doing some triage depending on what's coming your way. But it also is potentially more difficult to get information. Because that also might be where an employee either may not be able to discuss with you and make you aware of what's going on, depending on again, the nature of the leave, or they may need to immediately fly out to attend to some family needs, for example, and travel. And that's definitely not top of their mind. So you might not be able to connect with that employee for whatever reason. But you still need to try to keep that line of communication open to facilitate future communications when when you can and in the meantime, just start your internal communications as far as getting that coverage lined up and ensure like maybe like if our offer our organization, we can turn on and out of office for somebody. So making sure that squared away so that things are filtering in through you so you know what's coming in. For other managers, it might be something different that they need to do to put that backup plan in place. But it's having those contingency plans and backup plans when you're working with something that just is a bit more intangible that you don't know what tomorrow is going to bring. But you have to still focus on getting the work covered as best you can. And I still think that even though it might be as immediate if you can, whether it's sending an email, a text, or anything like that, just to let them know you're here you're thinking of them. Please check in when you can or when you feel comfortable. I think that might go a long way to just to show again that empathy that we're here for them and whatever they need, please, please let us know. So we can try to help.
Stacey Pick:I think that's important. Tracey like the the connection that you have with your team members in those situations where it is unplanned in it. Everything is happening so fast and trying to figure that out but let's letting them know that they're not alone and you're here to help them. And in we've got things covered from a work perspective and that it's important that they take care of themselves or their family members that that they need to focus on. I think that helps maintain that connection to work in reduce some of their stress.
Tracey Duncan:Speaking of timely communication, as we're talking right now, I just got a text from someone on the team saying, you know, they're not feeling well, they've been out yesterday, today. They're not sure about tomorrow, and they want to make me aware of something that might need coverage. I think that highlights the the importance of having that connection with your team. So tomorrow is not a surprise.
Karen Batson:You planned that didn't you?
Tracey Duncan:If this were a video I could show you not planted, I promise,
Karen Batson:I think you bring up a good point that I wanted to ask about, there's probably many managers out there that believe they can't communicate with someone when they're out on leave. So that's not true. If I'm hearing you correctly, right.
Tracey Duncan:I really hope that's not true. But I'm gonna let Sarah tell me if I'm wrong.
Sarah Montgomery:Once someone's out on leave, they're really supposed to be out on leave. And that insofar as possible as the employer that I think the employee drives some of the decisions as far as how much contact is created, I think, you know, you can definitely be supportive, and say, you know, I think as we all we all work together, so there's the human element of we just check in to know how you're doing questions about work and about what's going on, perhaps not so much other than if there's like, truly something you can't find or, but the employee, the need for leave is to truly allow them to have their leave either to bond with their child recover from whatever's going on, or care for a family member. It's not to be working. So the time is to be honored as much as possible. But again, you know, always a one way reach out saying no response is needed, we're just, you know, letting you know, we're thinking about you, I think is always going to appreciate it, it may not it leaves it in the employees hands, whether or not to respond. But it just is always nice to know that now, at least from my experience, and employees have always appreciated knowing their other co workers missed them hope they're doing well and looking forward to their return. But knowing that, you know, they're missed, but it does give them the option to drive whether or not they want to respond or how much they want to be engaged in discussions on leave.
Tracey Duncan:I love that and taking the direction from them. But not thinking that you can't reach out there, again, that human element that we do care, depending on whatever whatever they're going through, we can show that empathy, and we can show that we care and just help them stay connected. Some employees really don't want to feel isolated when they're out. And they'll welcome that. But some may just need that time to recover with whatever they're going through. So just leaving the door open for them to determine how much they want to walk through, I think is really important.
Karen Batson:I'm sure there are some assurances and also saying don't worry, we have you covered, to allow them to let go of work as well in the reverse to make them feel secure. Like we've got it don't worry about it focus on you type of message. For us workaholics, like myself,
Tracey Duncan:sometimes we have to reach out to tell them to no get off your email. Focus on recovering, please don't work.
Karen Batson:Another responsibility to add. So since we're talking about things to do, and not do, I wanted to ask about through the whole process, beginning to end, are there things managers are not allowed to ask about or talk about with the employee?
Stacey Pick:I know Sarah just had mentioned it, but um, when I do have somebody on leave, I don't call in and talk about work with them. And I never ask about their personal health issues. If they're, you know, I did more of a just checking in to see how you're doing thinking of you that those are two areas, I definitely stay clear from
Tracey Duncan:No medical questions, you know.
Sarah Montgomery:And again so much of this is driven by the employee that as between the manager, the employee and manager, it's the employee will really drive how comfortable they are having the conversation with you, because it's not something they want to share with their direct manager, there's always HR contacts that they can share additional information with to initiate the process to take leave to get the medical documentation coordinated. And so you know, all it really sometimes some cases, all a manager may know is that their employees out on FMLA approved leave. And that's it. If the employee has chosen to share more with you, you may know more but as a manager, all of that information has to be kept confidential from the team. So it can lead to not so much maybe awkward but just conversations where you feel like if you're normally a very closely knit team, it's when it goes out and all you can really say somebody's on leave. It's sometimes a little hard for the rest of the team because their first inclination is they go, Oh, what's wrong. And really all you can say at that point is they're out on approved leave, you know. And really, that's, that's the limit of what you can say if the employees chosen to share with the team members what's going on, that's up to the employee, but as the manager, you really are limited into just saying the employees out. And, you know, we're all hoping they'll return soon. And that's about it.
Tracey Duncan:That's a good point to Sarah. Because there are times when you folks are more friendly with team members and share more than they might with you directly. And that's perfectly fine. But I always let those team members also know, please don't share, you know, I wouldn't be able to share, please don't share. And please make sure you're not sharing with other members of the team as well, because I'm sure that they didn't intend that because sometimes you hear things that just get discussed. And while we can't engage in that, I think it's still an important conversation to have, even with people that are covering for this person to just just let them know that we'll we'll let you know if we hear of any future return to work. But in the meantime, here's the plan. But just setting that stage that you know, this isn't about discussing someone's absence for the internal team appreciate that they might also be concerned and care. But our focus needs to be on helping the customers or whatever group of stakeholders that we're working with through that absence, and then helping that person come back to a positive supportive environment.
Karen Batson:Well, that's a good transition, because I want to talk about return to working Stacey, given your team, you might have the best tips and information on this. So what is the manager's role in the return to work process for the employee, once they've been on absence?
Stacey Pick:I know I'm personally preparing for them to come back to work when they go out of work. And when with that, I mean, I keep track of different things that are going on within the company within the organization within our department and maintain a really detailed list and an outline of different things that are going on. So when we are getting close to that return to work date, and I have confirmed that they're planning on being able to return to work on that date, I can have a return to work plan in place for them in so I will set up time to meet with them their very first day back, just touch base and let them know kind of where things are at from an organizational perspective, talk about an outline in regards to what I think they might need for going through their emails and creating their own list of questions that they have. And then going through those department changes. Anything that I can think of that would make that transition back to work easy and comfortable for them?
Karen Batson:Is the manager involved if the employee for whatever reason they might have been absent where they might need an accommodation when they come back? Is the manager involved with that? Or is it the employee working with whoever they need to work with HR, their accommodation specialists type of person? Like how is the manager involved in something like that?
Tracey Duncan:Probably going to vary by employer. But typically, I think the manager is at least involved in confirming essential job functions and where there's might be some flexibility, or discussing what types of accommodations might be most beneficial, for allowing that person to come back to work.
Sarah Montgomery:Yeah, it's always so specific to the employee's situation about whether coming back might be on a reduced schedule basis and what that might mean or if it's kind of a change in job function for a little while, if somebody can partially return to work or return with certain restrictions or limitations that an employer might be able to accommodate, it will really be an a process to evaluate probably working with the HR department manager, as Tracey said, like, as a frontline manager, you're more aware of what the job functions are and kind of what may or may not be possible as far as scheduling alternatives, or kind of the work itself, what may be able to be changed in that if it's they couldn't necessarily perhaps not return to work with you if there was something other else in the company that could be done for a while. So it's very, you know companies will consider all different options and then go through working with the employee and you know, if needed any of their trading positions to kind of figure out what's available that makes sense and appropriate given where the employee is to make sure that they're not coming back too soon. And if they can come back that it's to the right situation that isn't going to cause a relapse or potentially, you know, further injury
Stacey Pick:There's a ramp up period.
Tracey Duncan:And you know Karen, even if it is a full duty full time return to work, that employee still is likely going to have a re-acclimation period As Stacey was talking about they they just need to get caught up on things that they've missed. Maybe they have a boatload of emails waiting for them in their inbox that they have to go through. They have to get updated on any project statuses or customer updates, Yeah, exactly that ramp up period. Perfect way maybe some mandatory trainings that they have to go through them. So it's it's great if a manager can at least understand that that it's not just boom, you're in the door and you're just right back. Yes, that's often not the case. It was it was a very short term absence, they're going to need an opportunity... to put it. A last
Karen Batson:And last question for you all, if you could name one thing that the employer could do to support their managers in this responsibility, what would it be? What would be a tip you'd have,
Tracey Duncan:Aside from the neon sign that we talked about?
Sarah Montgomery:I was gonna say that's, that's, I love that one.
Stacey Pick:Yeah, that's my favorite, too.
Tracey Duncan:Maybe a checklist as well. I'm a big list person, though. So that might be specific to my preferences. I love having a checklist of things in case, I as a manager might not have thought of an out of office message or turning on access when someone comes back or those kind of logistical things, just something a roadmap, if you will, for a manager to have at their fingertips, very helpful.
Stacey Pick:I think even even guidelines in regards to do's and don'ts of things that you can you can't talk about, you should you shouldn't do, I think that would be helpful also,
Sarah Montgomery:and it's, you know, to both of your guys, but like to put it all in one place, it's really helpful for managers to see like, there's what happens. As soon as you know, an employee wants leave while they're out. You know, Stacy was saying was a great idea is like, because the employees out doesn't mean that there isn't all of these things going on in the company that would be helpful. And let them know that like upon return, we were keeping track of things for you, we want you to help as you get back and to get re acclimated and to feel that you can transition back quickly to that, you know, keeping track of announcements and little things that have gone on in the company and making them feel welcome back on their first day. But then also staying in touch with them, you know, as they returned to work to make sure that it's going well, and that they're not pushing themselves too hard. Or if they need more time, you know, need to look at options if there's anything that might be impeding their full return to work that they talk about it and to keep the kind of lines of communication open so that the return to work is successful.
Karen Batson:On that note, thank you all very much for joining on the episode. It was great conversation. Thank you for listening today. And of course a special thank you to our guests for joining us and having a conversation about the manager's role during an employee's absence. We love to hear from you about what you think about the podcast series or even this particular episode. You can do that by reaching out to your Lincoln benefits professional and telling them liking the episode sharing it out or following us on Apple Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. We are working on our next episode which will cover our top stories from our compliance report in May, so be sure to join us at the end of the month.
Disclosures:The information contained in this podcast is for general use and is not a substitute for the advice of an attorney or your human resource professional. Lincoln Financial Group is the marketing name for Lincoln National Corporation and its affiliates. Affiliates are separately responsible for their own financial and contractual obligations.