Disability Management Employer Coalition

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Disability Management Employer Coalition

Nickname	DMEC
Formation	1992
Founder	Sharon Kaleta and Marcia Carruthers:
Type	Professional Association
Legal status	501(c)(6) nonprofit organization
Location	United States and Canada
Membership	16500
Chief Executive Officer	Terri L. Rhodes
Website	www.dmec.org

The Disability Management Employer Coalition (DMEC) is a professional association committed to educating disability and absence management professionals. Since its founding in 1992, "DMEC has been an integral part of a transition towards emphasizing absence and disability management." DMEC provides members, representing an estimated 16,500 human resource professionals, with education and resources to manage leave and accommodation programs, minimize lost work time, and develop effective return-to-work and stay-at-work strategies to maximize productivity, reduce costs, and maintain legal compliance for employers of all sizes.

DMEC is the only US non-profit association providing education, networking opportunities, research, and updates on federal, state, and local legislative changes to a broad community of companies and individuals. Despite being law since 1993, The Family and Medical Leave Act is still not well understood despite widespread training. A 2021 survey found that only 46% of managers could name the benefits provided by the law. FMLA Insights author Jeff Nowak, a recognized leader on the FMLA and the ADA with decades of experience assisting employers on complex employment legal matters, has stated, "If you're an employer and not a member of DMEC, you're doing yourself a disservice."

The DMEC and its CEO, Terri Rhodes, are thought leaders in human-resource-related industries having been interviewed, referenced in, or authored more than fifteen articles in at least 6 prominent industry journals in the first half of 2022 alone. In July, 2022, Business Insurance released a video interview with Terri Rhodes discussing how absence management has evolved and the challenges employers face in navigating disability benefits. On the same day, HR Dive published, "'You have to be cautious': 3 fast FMLA compliance tips", which is a summary of a recent DMEC webinar. Recent articles authored by or quoting DMEC include:

• "Why Won’t Employees Use Their Companies’ Mental Health Benefits?"
• "5 Absence Management Trends for 2022"
• "Are workers with visual and hearing disabilities included in your office reopening plan?"
• "Lack of national FMLA not stopping employers from stepping up"
• "An ADA specialist answers 4 burning covid-19 questions"
• "Businesses Look to Paid Parental Leave Policies to Gain Competitive Advantage"

COVID-19 response

During the pandemic, hundreds of thousands of people were contracting COVID-19 in a single day, DMEC helped employers navigate the unprecedented conditions by working with partners across the industry to compile a comprehensive resource including a dozen or more webinars, a recorded panel discussion, survey results, and articles. The resource page also included links to government resources, and employment law resources.

DMEC emerged as a thought leader for mental health during the pandemic. CEO Terri L. Rhodes published many articles on the subject including a May 2020, Risk & Insurance article entitled, "5 Tips for Helping Employees Manage Their Mental Health During COVID-19". She appeared again in an August 19, 2021, Bloomberg Law article on return-to-work lawsuits, which states:

Mental health concerns come in many forms for employers to grapple with, and workers often fear coming forward, said Terri Rhodes, chief executive officer of the Disability Management Employer Coalition. This has increased amid the pandemic, and in the new reality, as the delta variant has taken hold, she said. "Workplace mental health has been dubbed the 'second pandemic,'" Rhodes said, observing that many employers have decided to walk back their requirements to return to the office. "Mental health impacts the employees' ability to be productive, and managers need to learn to understand when employees are struggling."

After years of fighting the pandemic, the working world shifted along with the "Great Resignation" in the early 2020s. Remote or hybrid work models became more common and further complicated the Absence Management programs. DMEC and its CEO, Terri L. Rhodes, remained at the forefront. In October, 2021, Terri published, "Remote Work and Vaccine Mandates Are Driving an Increase in ADA Accommodation Requests. Why a Human-Centered Approach Is Vital" in Risk & Insurance.

Member benefits

DMEC's mission is, "to advance strategies and resources that improve workforce productivity by minimizing the impact of absence and disability through education, networking, and other resources." DMEC delivers on its mission through a variety of member benefits in different formats

• Conferences
• Webinars
• Magazine
• Certification & training courses
• Networking
• Career center
• Legislative updates
• Leave and accommodation tool
• Surveys & benchmarking reports

As of January 2022, the member list contained nearly 1,000 individuals or companies, representing an estimated 16,500 absence and disability management professionals from across the U.S. and Canada. DMEC has nearly two dozen national sponsors including Lincoln Financial Group®, MetLife, ReedGroup®, Guardian®, and Sedgwick®. Some of the top employers in the US, such as Amazon and Walmart, are among DMEC's members.

Conferences

DMEC hosts two annual conferences.

The DMEC FMLA/ADA Employer Compliance Conference happens each Spring. The conference is designed for anyone involved in or responsible for:

• Absence and disability management
• FMLA/ADA workplace compliance
• Human resources/benefits
• Return-to-work/Stay-at-work programs
• Risk management and litigation
• Workplace accommodations

In 2021, the Director of the U.S. Department of Labor Division of FMLA and Other Acts, Helen Applewhaite, spoke about the "intense" process of implementing the Family First Coronavirus Response Act, which had been passed a year earlier and applied to over 60 million U.S. workers.

Each Fall, the DMEC Annual Conference provides an opportunity for workforce absence, disability, and return-to-work professionals to come together to share strategies, best practices, emerging technologies, and practical applications within the broad, evolving field of workplace absence and disability management. The conference covers:

• Integrated absence and leave management
• FMLA/ADA legal updates and compliance
• Wellness and productivity
• Return to work and stay at work

Education and certifications

To fulfill their mission and to help individuals advance their careers, DMEC offers the Certified Leave Management Specialist (CLMS) certification. The CLMS program is the only professional designation of its kind that provides interactive, hands-on training to ensure employers' programs effectively comply with state and federal leave laws. In addition, the CLMS program offers downloadable tool kits, sample policies, documents, up-to-date guidance, resources, and forms to help meet legal and regulatory challenges.

At the 2022 DMEC FLMA/ADA Employer Compliance Conference, DMEC partnered with the Commission for Case Manager Certification to deliver a multi-day certification course.

Publications

Available exclusively to members, @Work magazine is published six times per year and features articles by industry experts sharing strategies, best practices, and practical applications on a variety of integrated absence management topics. Following the trends uncovered by DMEC surveys, the magazine publishes articles on topical issues including incorporating technology, communication strategies, and an integrated approach to absence management.

See Also

Absence Management

Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)

Job Accommodation Network (JAN)

List of human resource management associations

Human Resource Management

Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA)

Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990

References

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