This is for an annual contract for absence management, compliance, and tracker services to FMLASource in the amount of $57,190. The purpose of this contract is to provide a single-source vendor to manage and ensure legal compliance with the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), Americans with Disability Act (ADA), and Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA). 

 

Self-administration of FMLA, military leave, leave without pay, and ADA accommodations present several challenges:
1. Staff time—leave documentation, tracking, and communication with employees, medical providers, and managers require many work hours per week.
2. Litigation exposure due to tracking errors, possible discrimination (inconsistencies in approving/denying requests), or failure to communicate/respond within required timeframes.
3. Accidental overextension of leave and intentional leave abuse is increasing employers’ labor costs.
4. Ongoing compliance--adapting to regulation/legislative changes and staff training.

 

USI requested proposals from seven different FML Administrators:
• Absence Plus and TruppHR were not competitively priced
• HRWorks declined to quote
• LifeWorks did not respond to our request for a quote
• Proposals from FMLASource (a subsidiary of ComPsych), GTM, and Leave Solutions were reviewed, and each vendor provided a demonstration/presentation on their offerings.

 

FMLASource emerged as the top finalist with the lowest annual pricing. FMLASource is a specialty absence management administrator that provides access to a staff of attorneys, clinical experts, and HR specialists who review leave requests and have intimate knowledge of the complexities of the ever-changing Family Medical Leave Act. The FMLASource contract includes the following services.

 

Provides tracking for FMLA, state-specific family leaves, jury/witness duty, domestic violence, military, civic engagement, ADA, and other optional leave tracking (i.e., personal, general medical, bereavement, etc.):

• Multiple channels (phone, web, app, fax, mail) to submit a leave request, Expert consultation at the time of the leave request, and throughout the leave duration.
• Explanation of customer-specific policies to employees in an easy-to-understand conversational manner.
• Determination of eligibility and entitlement for all appropriate leaves. Clear and compliant notifications about employees’ rights and responsibilities, including the next steps.
• Outreach to health care providers for additional information, as needed.
• Tracking for FMLA, state leaves, jury/witness duty, ADA leaves, and other City of Savannah absences.
• Reminders at key points along the process to keep employees on track, providing a “safety net” to avoid missing deadlines and confirm or adjust return-to-work dates, as appropriate.
• Coordination with disability and workers’ compensation vendors when appropriate.
• Introduction to appropriate EAP and work-life services (if applicable).
• Determining when Ableave may be covered by the ADA and facilitating the employer’s case-by-case ADA analysis.
 

The bid was advertised, opened, and reviewed by USI Insurance Services, LLC the City of Savannah’s Employee Benefits Consulting Services vendor. The contract term expires on May 31, 2023. Delivery: As needed. Terms: Net 30 days. The bidders were:

B.P.        FMLASource (subsidiary of ComPsych) (Chicago, IL)^(D)                          $57,190

                Absence Plus (Novi, MI)^(D)                                                                       Not competitively priced

               TruppHR (Portland, OR)^(D)                                                                        Not competitively priced

               HRWorks (Fairport, NY)^(D)                                                                         Declined

               GTM (Clifton, NY)^(D)                                                                                                   $69,924

               Leave Solutions (Brookfield, WI)^(D)                                                                        $60,840

               LifeWorks (Atlanta, GA)^(D)                                                                          Declined

 (D) Indicates non-local, non-DBE business. 

Local available: No

Total sent: 7

Total received: 6

Approval