Employers get one point for every element (out of ten elements) that Guardian says creates a full absence management program. Those ten elements are:

The five best practices:

• Full return-to-work (RTW) program

• Reporting capability

• Health management referrals

• Centralized intake process

• Same resource for short-term disability (STD) and FMLA leave

The five supporting practices:

• Offer wellness/prevention program

• Offer wellness program incentives

• Integrated disability/FMLA reporting

• Disease management referrals

• Centralized STD/FMLA administration

For 2016, companies that received an index score averaged 4.4. That’s an increase from 3.7, from the 2014 and 2012 surveys.

The study shows the biggest increase for absence management programs is happening at mid-size companies, with 250-1,000 employees.

And companies implementing absence management programs are seeing positive results. Sixty-three percent of companies with a program see increase productivity, 63 percent also report having positive employee experiences, and 61 percent reduced on lost time. These are all more than 10 percent increases from the 2014 study.

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Fifty-seven percent are reducing direct costs associated with absenteeism, an improvement from 38 percent in 2014.

There are also more companies and employers making the effort to include these programs. Nine out of 10 employers surveyed offer some aspects of an absent management program, and 32 percent are investing resources to build such a program.

A specific element companies are using is health management programs, in the hope of reducing long-term illness absences. These are often incorporated into a company’s short-term disability or family and medical leave programs.

The study found a majority of companies offer wellness programs, but 43 percent offer health risk appraisals and 32 percent offer disease management referrals, and larger companies are more likely to offer health management programs.

The most popular are employee assistance programs and wellness programs, which 78 percent and 86 percent of companies, respectively, with more than 1,000 employees offer. For employees with less than 250 employees, 54 percent offer employee assistant programs and 58 percent offer wellness programs.

Wellness programs have a huge impact on reducing absenteeism among employees, and there is higher participation when there are financial incentives or discounts. The survey shows 70 percent of companies who offer wellness programs also include an incentive. Employers that include a wellness program had a much higher absence management index score, according to the study.

Implementing these types of programs and benefits takes buy in from a company, which is also something the study examines. Typically, human resources officials and the CEO or president are the most involved in implementing these programs.

At companies larger than 1,000 employees, the CEO is usually the one who initiates these programs, but at larger companies, HR or IT leaders often spearhead the effort.