DMEC and PERKY Release New White Paper from AI Think Tank on Leave & Accommodation Management

SAN DIEGO, Nov. 11, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, DMEC, the premier association for workplace leave and accommodation management professionals, and PERKY, a leading provider of digital decision-support tools in benefits and leave, released resources from the DMEC AI Think Tank. The DMEC AI Think Tank: Defining Ethical and Effective Workforce Integration white paper offers guidance, research findings, and case studies to help employers adopt artificial intelligence (AI) in ways that enhance compliance, employee experience, and operational efficiency.

The AI Think Tank stemmed from the recognition that organizations are rapidly adopting automation to manage absence programs, yet many lack a roadmap for governance, human oversight, data fairness, and transparency. DMEC and PERKY brought together employers, vendor partners, AI ethicists, third-party administrators, and consultants to examine how AI should be used, and under what guardrails, to support both organizational goals and employee fairness.

"It's exciting to share the initial findings from the DMEC AI Think Tank. By addressing the unique challenges within the leave landscape, we're paving the way for responsible AI adoption that enhances employee experience, streamlines administration, and supports compliance," said Bryon E. Bass, CLMS, CEO of DMEC. "This white paper offers a practical roadmap—from pilot use cases to governance structures—to guide organizations of all sizes into the next phase of absence management."

"We believe these foundational discussions are essential. By defining terms, prioritizing transparency, and focusing on fairness, we can ensure that AI empowers us to create more equitable and efficient absence management programs while still furthering employees' interests and safeguarding their data," said Shelby George, CEO of PERKY.

Think Tank Highlights

• Participants from more than 300 organizations across private and public sectors' shared insights on AI use, emerging risks, and program design.

Key findings include:

• 28% of DMEC's AI Pulse Survey respondents currently use AI for workplace leave and accommodation management, while 72% do not. This result indicates that while there is some adoption, a significant majority are yet to integrate AI into their workplace leave and accommodation management processes.
  
  
• Five top barriers emerged: system integration, compliance complexity, data privacy/security, algorithm explainability, and organizational change.
  
  
• Case profiles show how companies like Gallo Consumer Products and Sedgwick are using AI-assisted tools for intake triage and documentation review while preserving human oversight.
  
  
• The report includes a vendor-evaluation rubric, an RFP template, and practical steps for establishing governance and outcome metrics.

Why This Matters Now

With hundreds of leave-related laws in the U.S., and AI tools advancing faster than many policy frameworks, absence and accommodations professionals face a convergence of compliance, technology and employee-expectation pressures. The white paper by DMEC and PERKY addresses how AI can be positioned not as an operational afterthought, but as a strategic tool to support an inclusive, future-ready employee experience.

The executive summary is publicly available at www.dmec.org/. DMEC members receive full access to the complete white paper, data appendices, and downloadable implementation tools.

About PERKY
PERKY is a leading provider of digital planning and decision-support tools designed to simplify and enhance the employee experience. By leveraging innovative technology and user-driven insights, PERKY empowers benefit-smart organizations to support their employees through significant life events with personalized guidance. Learn more at www.perkytech.com.

About DMEC
DMEC is the premier resource for leave and accommodation management professionals, representing more than 20,000 practitioners across the U.S. and Canada. DMEC provides education, training, benchmarking, and networking to help organizations minimize lost work time, support employees, and maintain legally compliant programs. Learn more at www.dmec.org.

Heather Grimshaw (she/her)
Communications Manager
DMEC
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 800.789.3632, ext. 129
Website: https://dmec.org/

SOURCE DMEC