For employees on leave there’s a never ending list to manage all the moving parts—communicating with their manager and HR team, understanding their eligibility for different benefits, following up on submitted claims, and keeping tabs on pay coming from multiple sources, just to name a few. Cocoon’s leave management system makes it easy for employees and People teams to plan and manage leave by taking the guesswork out of pay while on leave
While employees are on leave—particularly FMLA, parental, or medical leave—their pay is more complicated than a typical paycheck. Depending on their company’s policy, benefits, and where an employee lives, it’s common to see income from several different sources (e.g. employer top up, disability insurance, and a state program) on an irregular schedule.
“While I was on leave with a new baby the joke was, “Choose two: eat, sleep, or shower,” and I was instead building spreadsheets to show what I was owed.”
- New parent before using Cocoon
Employees take leave during some of life’s most pivotal moments, like welcoming a child or addressing a serious medical condition. Tracking multiple pay sources and making sure everything adds up distracts from the reason they took time away in the first place. When employers provide stability during these vulnerable periods, they have the opportunity to strengthen their relationship with team members and retain them for the long term.
Now, every employee managing leave in Cocoon can view their Pay Tracker in the Cocoon Dashboard. An easy-to-read graph shows when they were paid, how much, and from which sources. The interactive module helps employees dive deeper into their pay sources and understand what they’re receiving and why pay amounts may differ each pay period.
Once an employee is out on leave, payments appear in the Pay Tracker with the first pay period of the leave. Any pay from disability insurance and applicable state programs appears when an employee self-reports the payment in Cocoon.
The Pay Tracker adds to our suite of planning and pay features that make Cocoon the easiest place for employees to plan and manage their leave pay. The Leave Planning Timeline shows employees a breakdown of how pay works when they’re preparing for a leave of absence. Our pay education videos provide in-depth explanations about how pay works and what employees can expect while on leave. And now, the new Pay Tracker helps employees manage and understand their pay while on leave.
Pay can be a huge stressor for any employee taking a leave. And uncertainty around it is one of the biggest reasons team members quit before or shortly after they return to work. Employees rely on their company for financial stability. That’s even more true when life takes an unexpected (and potentially costly) turn like a NICU stay or an emergency surgery.
Employee leave is an opportunity for values-driven companies to show up for their people when they need it most. By offering a transparent view into leave pay, you can increase trust, reduce confusion, and free up your People team’s time. As you think about how to support employees before, during, and after leave, make pay clarity a priority.
