HR Technology Vendor News by HRchitect

EmpCenter ACT Takes the Stress out of Compliance: Point. Click. Comply.

Howard Tarnoff, Senior Vice President, and Marc Moschetto, Vice President of Marketing, from WorkForce Software appeared on the HRchitect WebMingle on August 12, 2010.  If you are looking for a new Talent Management System, Workforce Management, or any HR system, talk to HRchitect first. We have unparalleled knowledge of the HR and Talent Management vendor community and can save you time and money in selection and implementation. Simply put, do not invest in any kind of HR technology without consulting with the experts first. HRchitect is here to help!

WorkForce Software, the leading provider of workforce management solutions for organizations with complex labor policies and compliance concerns, announced its absence management solution, EmpCenter® Absence Compliance Tracker (ACT), at last week’s HR Technology Conference & Expo in Chicago.

Human resource professionals are required to maintain compliance with a diverse array of federal, state, corporate, and other employee leave regulations and policies. Common examples include the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), military leave and pregnancy leave, but other programs such as those offered on a state-by-state basis are becoming more numerous and more common. Managing employee leave within this environment is complicated because any single employee leave request could qualify for coverage under more than one leave program, and the state laws and regulations are constantly changing.

Determining the appropriate leave type (or types), effectively managing the leave request – including documenting all correspondence and communication related to the leave – and, maintaining compliance with constantly changing regulations places a heavy burden on already overtaxed human resource departments. EmpCenter ACT, however, delivers a powerful new way to automate the entire leave management process.

“A broad array of state, federal, and corporate leave policies has created an unprecedented level of complexity and potential exposure for employers,” said Howard Tarnoff, WorkForce Software’s senior vice president. “We brought EmpCenter ACT to market to both mitigate the risk and ease the burden of complying with the sometimes intersecting leave policies, practices, and regulations that are already on the books today, as well as safeguard organizations from any new laws – or changes to existing laws – which may arise in the future.”

Unlike other absence management solutions or outsourced services available to HR professionals, EmpCenter ACT breaks down the complex employee leave process into three simple steps:

Step 1: Employee Leave Request and Leave Type Determination – a comprehensive, dynamic questionnaire is presented to the employee and, based on the responses to those questions, a report of qualifying leave type (or types) is presented  to HR in real-time

Step 2: Active Case Management – a secure and comprehensive workflow to ensure all documentation is processed on time and within policy, and all relevant communication is captured in a HIPAA-compliant environment

Step 3: Policy Compliance – a compliance update subscription service monitors and automatically updates the application whenever an existing leave regulation is changed or a new regulation is introduced, ensuring HR is using the most up-to-date information with minimal effort

For the first time, HR professionals can utilize technology to automate the entire leave process, regardless of the type of leave. Utilizing EmpCenter ACT gives HR departments robust functionality that includes: 

• Delivering a proactive approach to managing all aspects of employee leave
• Automating the process of classifying employee leave
• Documenting all leave-related activities and paperwork for a complete audit trail
• Capturing each step of the leave process, from documentation to reminders for a physician visit
• Proactively ensures compliance with current state and federal regulations, using an active update service
• Supporting concurrent leave taken by any single employee (e.g. workers’ compensation and FMLA)
• Generating reports and other analysis to view leave allowances, leave usage, and identify patterns of leave that may indicate policy abuse

As a result, organizations can achieve compliance, mitigate risk, and reduce the amount of effort required by the HR organization to monitor and apply these frequently changing policies.

EmpCenter ACT works in concert with the rest of the EmpCenter suite, but it can be used to complement and extend the functionality of any other time and attendance system, such as from Kronos, PeopleSoft, SAP, Ultimate Software, or ADP.

EmpCenter ACT is part of EmpCenter 8.0, the latest iteration of WorkForce Software’s proven, enterprise-grade workforce management suite. One component of the suite is EmpCenter Time and Attendance, designed to accommodate even the most complex pay rules and work rules solely through software configuration. Other EmpCenter components include an advanced labor scheduling application, powerful analysis and reporting tools, mobile workforce management applications for smartphones, and the EmpCenter Compliance Portal.  The Compliance Portal, new with EmpCenter 8.0, is an online resource containing thousands of articles and legal information designed to help HR professionals gain current and comprehensive data on a variety of topics – from leave regulations to benefits, payroll policies, best practices, and other information they need to complete their day-to-day activities.  The EmpCenter suite components can be used separately or in concert with each other for a full workforce management solution. 

For more information on WorkForce Software, please visit www.workforcesoftware.com
Matt Lafata, HRchitect