Global

Recap of Employer-only Sharing Call: Managing Global Leave: Strategies for Compliance, Consistency and Employee Experience

Nearly 50 employer members came together to discuss practical strategies to streamline global leave management and boost the employee experience.

June 03, 2025

Navigating global leave policies remains a complex issue for employers due to diverse cultural expectations, evolving compliance requirements and significant administrative burdens. In this employer-only call, human resources (HR) and benefit leaders shared operational challenges, practical approaches and lessons learned in designing and administering global leave programs.

Below is a summary of key takeaways shared by participating employers.

Employers are at different stages of developing their global leave frameworks.

Participants emphasized the importance, and difficulty, of creating globally consistent leave standards that meet both local statutory requirements and broader organizational priorities. As the poll results in Figure 1 show, employers are at varying levels of development as it relates to their current global leave framework approach. Employers are divided almost equally between those with globally consistent principles in place and those that are in the early stages.

Figure 1: Employers’ Approach to Global Leave Framework, 2025

Several companies have adopted a global minimum standard approach, with a baseline level of leave (e.g., sick leave, caregiving leave) offered in all countries and additional benefits layered on based on local benchmarks. For example, one employer applies its global default in geographies without statutory requirements, but in countries that offer more generous leave (e.g., Switzerland, Sweden), the company defers to the local regulations.

In a follow-up poll of employers with global frameworks in place, more than half include parental and bereavement/compassionate leave, followed by paid time off (PTO), caregiving and sick leave. Thirty-three percent of poll participants include paid military leave and 29% include another type of leave (e.g., volunteer leave). Another employer shared that it doesn’t have a universal paid leave policy but is working on standardizing certain life event leaves (such as marriage or relocation) across countries. Other organizations expressed interest in aligning leave policies where possible, especially as they face growing expectations for an equitable global leave experience.

Administering global leave is challenging, and employers lean on a mix of vendor partners to stay up to date with compliance changes.

Employers cited several administrative challenges, including navigating intricate local labor laws, managing fragmented HR/payroll systems and dealing with inconsistent data quality. One employer discussed using a global payroll and leave platform and acknowledged the limitations of having to create country-specific leave types in the system due to nuanced local requirements. One common workaround for managing fast-changing regulations across geographies involves creating generic leave categories like “legislative leave” to serve as a stopgap measure. Others echoed similar issues with system integration and are relying on vendor partners and/or local HR teams to manage regulatory changes while continuing to assess long-term scalability.

To manage leave benefits internationally, employers are working with a combination of partners, including

HR and payroll system vendors;
Internal teams (Legal, HR, Disability/Accommodations, Total Rewards);
Global and local broker/consulting firms; and
Leave tracking tools.

Some of the partners named on the call included Aon, Broadspire, Certilytics, Mercer, SAP, Sedgwick, Sun Life, UKG Dimensions, Unum and Workday.

Employers are harnessing data-driven approaches in their international leave management efforts.

A few employers mentioned that they are starting to collect leave-related data to analyze utilization trends, assess outcomes and support return-to-work planning. While data warehouses are more common in the U.S., some organizations are exploring ways to expand analytical capabilities in other regions even though there are limitations due to General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) compliance guidelines. Several companies noted they use broker and consulting resources to track regulatory changes but still require legal counsel to navigate finer aspects of program implementation.

Leave policies support broader workforce health and well-being needs.

Many employers underscored the role of leave policies in supporting holistic employee health and well-being needs (e.g., mental health). Several employers, for example, are considering ways to balance flexibility with responsible use of mental health days. At the heart of this conversation is a focus on ensuring a positive employee experience. A couple of employers described the creation of manager toolkits and country-specific hubs to guide leaders and employees through the leave process, especially where formal processes are not yet in place. Leave-related offerings to support employees who serve as caregivers is another evolving area of focus.

Final Thoughts

This employer-only discussion emphasized that while there’s no one-size-fits-all solution for global leave management, HR/Benefits teams are making meaningful progress by anchoring their strategies in shared organizational values, local compliance and a commitment to well-being. Participants recognized that the path forward requires balancing global consistency with regional nuance, investing in a better data infrastructure and proactively supporting employees and managers throughout the leave process. As leave expectations continue to evolve, driven in part by changes in workforce demographics and regulatory developments, employers are prioritizing agility and inclusivity in their time-away offerings to meet the needs of the moment.