5 Reasons Employers Say DMEC Is a Must-Attend Event

Employers look to the DMEC conference to share real-world problems and solutions with their peers in the trenches.

The Disability Management Employer Coalition, or DMEC, annual conference draws faithful followers who return year after year while also attracting a steady stream of new participants.

DMEC’s annual conference has grown from 110 attendees in 1996, when it first launched, to the nearly 800 who gathered August 6 through 9 in Austin, Texas. A few employers in attendance know exactly why this conference is a must-see every year.

1) DMEC Offers Learning Opportunities

Employer compliance requirements keep growing increasingly challenging as state and local governments pile on more and more family and medical leave type laws.

Add in the Americans with Disabilities Act and employers need a place to learn about the most recent legislation, court decisions and regulations they’re required to stay on top of.

“It is really, really confusing and really difficult for employers to manage all of that,” said Kimberly N. Mashburn, national accounts practice lead, group benefits at The Hartford.

“One of the hallmarks of DMEC is making sure we keep employers up-to-date on changing legislation for leave management, Family and Medical Leave Act and now all of the municipal leaves, the state leaves and all of the paid family leaves coming into play,” added Mashburn, who is also a DMEC board member.

2) Great Place to Share Ideas That Work

Compliance isn’t employers’ only concern with so many leave and disability regulations. Maintaining a productive workforce is challenging when the laws allow employees so much time away from work.

Which brings us to a second reason for DMEC’s popularity. The conference provides an employer forum for sharing ideas on what strategies work for managing all those leaves and the disabilities that cause absences.

“I am the only one who does what I do where I work,” said Jenny Haykin, integrated leaves & accommodation program manager at Puget Sound Energy in Washington state.

“So having the opportunity to connect with other people in different organizations trying to accomplish the same things I am trying to accomplish, and hearing about what they have done and what works and what doesn’t work — that is all fantastic,” Haykin said.

3) Topics Are Relevant for an Employer’s Day-to-Day

Marcia Carruthers, co-founder and board chairwoman, DMEC

A third reason DMEC’s annual conference appeals to disability management professionals: the attendees and speakers keep it real, addressing tangible topics that commonly concern employers.

“What I really like about DMEC is this is where you meet all the worker bees, the people who really make it happen,” said Gary Anderberg, senior VP, claim analytics at Gallagher Bassett. “They have disability dirt under their fingernails. They know what they are doing. These are the people I like to listen to. These are people who are talking about real things happening to real people.”

This year’s conference topics included the complexities of reasonable accommodation, predicting and reducing disability absence, and the changing workforce and benefit design.

“We have far less talk about theory and far more talk about what worked and what didn’t, the results, and ‘this is how we did it,’ ” Anderberg explained.

4) DMEC Has a Willingness to Lead on Topics Generating Employee Disabilities

A stigma around mental health prevents many employers from talking about the topic, even though it’s a costly employee disability driver. DMEC has long been at the forefront of educating employers on helping employees cope with mental health issues that cause absences and productivity distractions.

Mental health challenges are a huge cost driver for employers, so DMEC continually educates on the topic, said Marcia Carruthers, DMEC co-founder and board chairwoman.

“We keep pushing it and keep pushing it out and pushing it out,” she said.

This year’s conference, for example, included a session titled “Mental Health in the Workplace: The Invisible Disability Now Visible.”

One in four employees experience a mental health issue during any given year, presenter Rachael A. Shaw, president of Shaw HR Consulting Inc., told DMEC. Employees suffering from depression, she added, miss 27 days per year due to absenteeism or presenteeism, meaning they are not focused on the job when they are at work.

5) Networking

Last, but certainly not least, attendees include a good mix of employers and service providers and the space for problem-solving discussions. &

Roberto Ceniceros is a retired senior editor of Risk & Insurance® and the former chair of the National Workers' Compensation and Disability Conference® & Expo. Read more of his columns and features.

How a Carrier Partner Can Help Navigate a Challenging Management and Professional Liability Market

A combination of a choppy economy with increased claims frequency and severity could lead to rate increases in the Management & Professional Liability market.

By: Risk & Insurance | April 3, 2024

Rates in the management & professional liability (M&PL) markets were on the rise from 2020 to early 2023 and are now falling rapidly.

M&PL divisions manage a number of different insurance products including management liability (D&O), professional liability (E&O), employment practices liability (EPL), fiduciary liability policies, cyber, etc. In 2023 and into 2024, a big influence on the marketplace has been the extremely aggressive and softening public company D&O market.

Though these rates have been softening for management liability, that may change over the next few years as companies continue to adjust their business models motivated by economic uncertainty. Layoffs were up nearly 200% last year, Forbes reported, even as other recession indicators, like the inflation rate, improved. A recession could lead to an increased claim activity and force carriers to raise rates.

“Whenever there is a meaningful downturn in the economy, we tend to see claim frequency pop up,” said George Schalick, Jr., senior vice president of the Management and Professional Liability Division at Philadelphia Insurance Companies (PHLY).

With continued fiscal uncertainty, businesses potentially already burdened with pandemic-related claims should seek a carrier with a long history in M&PL products. They will provide much-needed risk management guidance and be better positioned to support their insureds during market fluctuations.

Why Insureds Might See an Uptick in M&PL Claims

George Schalick, Jr., Senior Vice President of the Management and Professional Liability Division, Philadelphia Insurance Companies

The current soft market might come as a bit of a surprise as it does not track with previous underwriting cycles and economic conditions. Afterall, many privately held and non-profit organizations struggled during the early days of the pandemic with shutdowns and rapidly declining revenues. But the Government assistance programs, like the Paycheck Protection Program loans, helped keep many afloat during the tough times.

“During COVID many organizations stopped doing business until they were able to sort out all of the health and safety challenges,” Schalick said. “They were forced to lock down, but then all the government assistance programs allowed them to keep people employed. The increased volume of claims we anticipated we would see coming from the lockdowns and restrictions that were imposed upon businesses in the U.S. didn’t manifest at first.”

“Just because there wasn’t an onslaught of reported claims at the beginning of the pandemic, doesn’t mean the circumstances that would give rise to a claim being reported didn’t occur. Courts and the judicial system were closed or slowed and now that they are back open, we’re starting to see the circumstances that occurred during the COVID lockdowns becoming claims today,” Schalick said. “Litigation is progressing.”

Added to the delayed pandemic litigation is a concern over newer claims that might be filed as the country inches toward an economic downturn. Though a recession was avoided in 2023, experts think a soft dip could occur in 2024, with 76% of economists saying there’s a 50% or less chance of an economic downturn this year — that almost always results in more management liability claims.

“During the Great Recession in 2008, we saw an almost immediate spike in claims because of the economic conditions and the pressure it placed on organizations. They were making personnel changes with significant belt tightening almost immediately.” Schalick said.

What’s in Store for M&PL Policy Rates in 2024?

Despite an uptick in claims and increased economic uncertainty, management liability rates haven’t increased, resulting in market-wide pricing levels that may not meet the increased pressure of rising settlements and jury verdicts.

“Rates are going the other direction and settlement values are not falling,” Schalick said.

The mismatch between rates, claim frequency and severity is, in part, because carriers experiencing the dramatic soft market in the public D&O market are seeking premium gain in the private and non-profit market.

“In the public company market, the rates have been decreasing significantly. The rates were increasing in the private, not-for-profit market, and rightfully so, but there’s a desire to supplement overall mid-size D&O for carriers who also write private not-for-profit, and they see that as an opportunity to aggregate premium,” Schalick said. “So the always competitive landscape in the private, not-for-profit market has dramatically increased in the last 18 to 24 months.”

Still, companies of all sizes and types should be concerned about management liability rates in the future. Legal system abuse is resulting in increases in both the amount of litigation and the size of verdicts plaintiffs are receiving.

Certain areas of the country are particularly vulnerable to this type of legal system abuse. As a result, insureds in these localities are likely to be vulnerable to rate increases.

“The environment is so positive for the plaintiff that forces premium increases so carriers are able to stay in that market long term,” Schalick said.

Why a Tenured Carrier Partner Can Help Insureds Navigate An Uncertain Market

It’s clear that insureds are facing an uncertain M&PL market over the next few years. Fortunately, carriers with a long history in the M&PL space will be there to offer stability.

Philadelphia Insurance Companies has been supporting this market for 35 years. PHLY is committed to offering long-term rate stability, even as economic and claims trends start to push premiums upwards. They have an appetite for all sorts of companies, large and small, for-profit and nonprofit alike.

“We’ve been at this game for a long time and are one of the most tenured underwriters in this space,” Schalick said. “We like to stay very consistent.”

PHLY has worked with both for-profit and non-profit on management liability policies. With dedicated M&PL teams throughout the company’s 13 regions, PHLY provides the support agents and brokers are looking for on behalf of their clients. The teams know their regions well and can respond to local trends. They’re also dedicated to making the renewal process as easy as possible for their partners and policyholders.

“We have real confidence in our results, so we focus a lot on making the renewal experience as painless as possible for all agents and insureds,” Schalick said.

The company is also investing in tools to help insureds avoid losses. Earlier this year, they launched a new online risk management platform, PHLYGateway, which offers resources for insureds on how to create an employee handbook and trainings on issues such as recognizing workplace sexual harassment and discrimination.

If insureds have questions, they can consult a Best Practices Help Line, provided via the platform. That way, they can get on the spot risk management guidance to help them prevent claims.

To learn more, visit: https://www.phly.com/mplDivision/managementLiability/default.aspx.

This article was produced by the R&I Brand Studio, a unit of the advertising department of Risk & Insurance, in collaboration with Philadelphia Insurance Companies. The editorial staff of Risk & Insurance had no role in its preparation.

DMEC 2018