Now there's an Internet-based "Lost Productivity Calculator" that employers can use to calculate the specific cost of that lost productivity. The Calculator can also help organizations evaluate how to manage their disability programs; either STD or LTD, as well as workers compensation, and FMLA.

The Calculator can be found at http://www.libertymutual.com/business/disability/calc_intro.html. To use it you enter company-specific information with a defined list of variables such as holiday and vacation time.

The calculator will provide you with a lost productivity estimate — the dollar value of the employer's lost time from absences.

Reporting options include:

* Lost productivity and unplanned absences as a percentage of total annual payroll

* Lost productivity due to unplanned absences

* How much you could save if you could reduce absences by a certain %.

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