Cocoon, a leader in employee leave software, today announced novel advances in its technology that enable employees and businesses with everything they need to streamline the claims process and capitalize on all available benefits. Cocoon’s latest software makes claims fast and easy, removing stress from the highly complex leave process.
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Cocoon’s latest software makes claims fast and easy, removing stress from the highly complex leave process (Graphic: Cocoon)
As of January 2023, 14 states + DC have enacted paid family leave programs, with 30+ more actively considering legislation. Cocoon’s proprietary rules algorithm automates compliance so employers do not have to worry about this ever-evolving legal landscape. Because employees take actions directly in Cocoon, it also gives HR teams full visibility into each employee’s leave journey, from planning leave to receiving payments to transitioning back into work. Cocoon also released its 2023 state leave law guide to help employers understand and navigate the legal landscape with the most comprehensive view of all 43 state laws governing parental, medical, and caregiver leaves. The guide includes legal requirements on time off and pay, as well as a view into upcoming laws that have been passed but are not yet effective.
When Cocoon launched two years ago, its Operations team filed all state entitlement claims on behalf of employees, with the goal of removing as much cognitive load as possible for users so they could focus on themselves and their families. Since then, many states have become strict about only interacting with claimants themselves, rolling out new identity verification systems in an effort to combat fraud. California, for instance, partnered with ID.me and now requires two-factor authentication.
To get ahead of persistent changes taking place across the states, Cocoon reimagined its claims solution to empower employees to file their own claims with intuitive software. Relying on employees to file their own claims comes with the risk of errors, missed deadlines, and the possibility of leaving benefits on the table — often leaving employers to pay more to keep an employee’s salary at 100% during leave. Cocoon’s solution ensures that employees are aware of every benefit they qualify for, and sets a claims schedule, alerting employees when due dates are approaching. Its proprietary “Claims Copilots” surface key data, like weekly salary or employer EIN, to help employees fill out forms with accuracy and ease. From the Cocoon Dashboard, HR Admins can also track each employee’s claims status to help them troubleshoot if questions arise.
“Cocoon is pushing the boundaries on the future of leave,” said Mahima Chawla, co-founder and CEO of Cocoon. “We believe exceptional software coupled with strong design has the power to truly transform the experience of taking leave for millions of people and managing leave for employers. We have reimagined leave to be intuitive and straightforward, including the claims experience — a critical part of getting paid during leave. Cocoon aims to empower every working person with tools throughout the leave process that allow them to focus more on themselves and their families in these pivotal moments.”
The Benefits of Cocoon’s Claims Solution
As the most comprehensive technology solution on the market, the new Claims product provides numerous advantages, including:
- Time Savings: The Cocoon Claims Dashboard preemptively guides employees through exactly what they need to file, why, and when, so they don’t need to seek out answers. Filing the employee section of the application with Cocoon’s Copilots takes around 10-15 minutes.
- Accuracy: Because Cocoon’s Claims Copilots surface necessary information (like job start date or weekly salary) from its platform, the margin for error is substantially lower. With tools and education combined, there are fewer denials, less confusion, and less stress around getting paid.
- Autonomy and privacy: State portals often refuse to give information to third-party representatives filing claims on another’s behalf. Rather than becoming an unnecessary bottleneck that creates more back and forth, Cocoon empowers employees with the tools they need to accomplish these tasks, while also providing expert guidance from its CLMS-certified Support team if they need it. Filing on employees’ behalf also requires they sign over power of attorney, which many people are understandably hesitant to do for privacy reasons.
- Employer visibility: Because employees are logging all of their claims tasks and actions within their Cocoon dashboards, Cocoon Admins can click into any employee’s leave and see where they are in their claims task list, what’s been completed, and what’s coming up. That way if an employee runs into any issue, Cocoon gives Admins information at their fingertips to see what might have happened and help the employee troubleshoot. This enables Admins to become more helpful than ever before.
- Benefits recouped: When employees don’t apply for state or insurance benefits, companies often pay more to keep their salary at 100% during leave. By helping employees file claims and access benefits easily, Cocoon also assists employers, saving them money via payroll deductions. The company helps employers save an average of $12,776 per leave on recouped benefits.
“Having one central place for all parties with accurate and detailed information is critical. Cocoon breaks down your wage payout so there aren’t any payroll snafus or hiccups. The rules from your employer and government are codified so you know what the policy is, what’s approved, what the parameters are. You aren’t relying on email threads or random meetings from three months ago to piece it together yourself,” said Stacey Lim, a Senior Wellbeing Solutions Program Manager at Sequoia Consulting Group.
Since launching two years ago, Cocoon has grown to nearly 100,000 covered lives at hundreds of customers, including industry leaders in the workplace tech/benefits space, like Carta, Notion, Tia, Cleo, Ironclad, Miro, Superhuman, and more. The company also expanded the types of leave support it offers to cover parental, caregiver, and medical leaves. To learn more about Cocoon, visit cocoon.com.
About Cocoon
Cocoon is a leave management platform that uses technology to take the work out of leave. It partners with employers like Carta, Notion, and Benchling to support their people through life’s most pivotal moments — from having a baby to caring for a loved one to navigating personal health. Cocoon’s proprietary software automates the most complex parts of compliance, claims, and payroll, saving HR teams hours while giving employees the seamless, intuitive experience they’ve come to expect from modern workplace tools. Founded in 2020 by former Stripe and Square employees, Cocoon is backed by Index Ventures, First Round Capital, and other prominent technology investors. Visit us at cocoon.com.
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