The employee experience in Cocoon will differ slightly based on their eligibility, location, and leave type. Employees in California will see something slightly different than those in Iowa. Employees that are eligible for FMLA and state leave programs will see more time than others. Despite the nuanced world of leave, Cocoon makes sure that employees see what they are eligible for and guides them through the leave process. Employees receive a consistent experience of automation, education, and support across all states and leave types. The essence of each state flow may differ slightly, but at a high-level, all employees experience the following flows:

Before an employee can fully plan a leave with Cocoon, they’ll need to make an account. To do this, they will enter their work and personal email addresses, verify both, and then create a password. Employees’ work emails are only used to verify employment – after their account is created, all correspondence will go to their personal email.

Employees are empowered to plan in private and explore their leave options with your company. In their dashboard, they can see how much time and pay to expect based on federal, state, and company leave laws and policies. Once they submit their leave plan, HR team members with Workspace or Pay admin accounts within Cocoon will receive a notification.

The Cocoon Support team is available to assist employees throughout their leave. Employees can contact the team by pressing the 'Contact us' button in the top right of their dashboard.

When taking a leave with Cocoon, employees will receive a number of automated emails as a part of our Life and Work Success Program. These emails help employees prepare for going on leave, disconnecting from work while on leave, and returning to work after a life-changing event.

When an employee goes on leave, the Department of Labor requires employers covered under FMLA to send certain notices that make sure that both the employee and employer have a shared understanding of the terms of taking an FMLA leave. Cocoon sends the required leave-related notices to employees on your behalf. For a full list of notices that Cocoon sends out, check out this resource.

Cocoon guides employees through the claim submission process based on any benefit programs they may be eligible for. Depending on the employee’s leave situation, they may be filing anywhere from 0 to 3 claims. Non-birthing parents in a state with no paid family leave will have no claims to file while birthing parents in a paid family leave state (like California) may be eligible to file claims with 3 different entities – state disability, private disability, and state bonding. Employee involvement in the claims process is critical to ensure they receive their benefits as quickly as possible. Employee’s responsibilities and expectations are outlined in the leave submission process as well.

While employees are on leave, particularly parental or medical leave, their pay is more complicated than a typical paycheck. Depending on a company’s policy, benefits, and where an employee lives, it’s common to see income from several different sources (e.g. employer top up, disability insurance, and a state program) on an irregular schedule. Every employee with a leave in Cocoon can view their Pay Tracker in the Cocoon Dashboard, an easy-to-read graph shows when they were paid, how much, and from which sources. The interactive module helps employees dive deeper into their pay sources and understand what they’re receiving and why pay amounts may differ each pay period.