Colliers International Group Inc.’s interventional and individualized approach to employee absences led to a win for best Absence Management program at Benefits Canada’s 2024 Workplace Benefits Awards on Oct. 18.

“This is such an incredible and emotional achievement,” says Sonia-Sophia Vallie, a benefits, leaves and accommodation specialist at Colliers. “It’s very important to be here and to share what we’ve achieved for our employees because we believe we’re progressing in the right direction [in our benefits offerings], especially in the absence management field.”

This year, the company finalized and implemented an absence management program that targets employees’ well-being needs in real time, allowing it to apply an early intervention approach through its employee assistance program and possibly prevent disability leaves by offering adequate accommodations at work.

Read: How are pandemic reverberations affecting disability management programs, workplace accommodations?

The program features easy-to-use reference guides, application forms, request forms and educational resources to assist employees and help them overcome challenges around managing their leave. Colliers also provides return-to-work tips for employees and managers.

A return-to-work committee brings together the employer, employee, workplace consultants and case managers to discuss return-to-work planning, work accommodations and employee needs. Once an employee is set to return, the company assesses factors such as whether a gradual return is needed, job demand and requirements.

In cases where an employee can’t return to their previous role following a disability leave, the program also identifies their transferrable skills and potential alternate job roles. According to an internal survey, employees said this flexibility was the most important part of the company’s absence management strategy.

Read: Expert panel: How hybrid, remote working can impact employee health, disability management

To reduce disability leaves, the employer provides a variety of intervention tools such as an ergonomic assessment program for its workplaces, while focusing on mental and physical well-being through its benefits plan offerings such as wellness programs and discounted gym memberships.

For employees taking a parental leave, Colliers’ provides a top-up of up to 80 per cent of base salary for 16 weeks. For working parents who don’t take parental leave, the company provides 10 paid parental days. Similar to its disability leave program, the company provides a parental leave toolkit with access to resources.

“[The toolkit] basically walks the employee through from the very start to the very end of the process,” says Vallie.” We have a checklist for the employee and a checklist for the manager which is basically a step-by-step guide for what needs to be done before, during and after the leave.”

As a result of its absence management program, Colliers has seen significant reductions in the number of long-term disability cases, as well as in their durations, and most cases are closed between two weeks to two months. In addition, the duration of short-term disability leaves has decreased by an average of 50 per cent.

Read: More than a third of disability claims in 2022 due to mental-health reasons: survey