BHG Financial upgraded every part of their employee leave management process

BHG Financial is determined to give customers the financing they need to meet their own definitions of success.

With tailored financial solutions—including business loans, personal debt consolidation loans, and home improvement loans—BHG makes every part of the financing process faster and more flexible. Customers can check their eligibility in a few clicks, customize their loans, and access funding in a matter of days.

Behind BHG’s products and services is an award-winning workplace culture catering to 1,400 professionals. BHG has been named a best place to work multiple times by Fortune, the South Florida Business Journal, and CNY Business Journal.

“As a company, we really value time for our employees and their families,” said Maegan Collins, Senior Benefit Specialist at BHG Financial.

That’s why BHG invests in their employees’ health and happiness. Along with excellent healthcare and a remote-first work culture, the company gives employees one Friday off every month, matches retirement plan contributions, and provides paid leave.

“We’re always looking to add innovative new benefits or enhance existing ones,” Collins said. “We recently increased our paid parental leave and added fertility assistance to our medical benefits.”

BHG also partnered with Sparrow to improve the employee leave experience and streamline admin on the backend.

The challenge: Managing leave with limited resources and remote employees

Before BHG partnered with Sparrow, the company managed employee leaves in-house with a lean team. For years, one person handled payroll, benefits, and leave tracking, but that setup stopped working once the company’s growth skyrocketed.

“Nothing was functioning at full capacity,” Collins said. “We used to only operate out of New York and Florida, but when you start operating out of 41 states, it’s a lot easier to miss a certain county’s regulations and standards.”

Collins saw the reality of the situation: BHG’s leave management system wasn’t sustainable, and the team needed consistent, expert leave management support.

“We needed help from a workload standpoint, but we also carried a lot of compliance risk trying to manage employee leave ourselves,” she explained. “We weren’t comfortable continuing without greater compliance.”

She explored a handful of different leave management vendors, but none of them had the personalized customer service BHG wanted for employees on leave. “A lot of the options we checked out were self-service and didn’t have a dedicated claim person,” she said. “We weren’t impressed with the amount of care that each person going on leave would actually get.”

When Sparrow entered the picture, Collins knew their concierge service could transform BHG’s employee leave experience. “We try to spoil our employees as much as possible and make the leave process seamless for them because it’s already a stressful time,” she explained.

Collins also knew that Sparrow’s employee support would have a ripple effect, reducing paperwork and simplifying payroll for her team. “That was another big determining factor in choosing Sparrow,” she shared.

The solution: Find a leave partner to ensure compliance and minimize admin work

Once BHG found Sparrow, they tightened every part of the leave management process, strengthening compliance, minimizing paperwork, and simplifying leave planning and coordination with employees.

When a BHG employee requests leave, Collins inputs their information into the Sparrow dashboard, then Sparrow takes over.

“One of the biggest gains for me has been Sparrow’s paperwork support,” she said. “Before we had Sparrow, we helped employees with their state paperwork and walked them through each page.”

Now, Sparrow coordinates directly with employees, supplies them with the correct state paperwork, then completes and submits it on their behalf. “It’s been a huge time saver for us to not have to handle or worry about paperwork at all,” added Collins.

"Being able to rely on Sparrow to walk us through everything and advise employees on how to make the most of their state and company benefits is incredible." 

Sparrow Leave Specialists also take time to explain the nuances of state leave laws and how each one intersects with company-provided paid leave, PTO, and insurance coverage. “Being able to rely on Sparrow to walk us through everything and advise employees on how to make the most of their state and company benefits is incredible,” Collins said.

Sparrow Leave Specialists even liaise with insurance providers and state agency representatives to gather extra documents and check on employees’ benefits applications. “It’s so frustrating when you can’t get a hold of someone from claims or disability, and that’s never the case with Sparrow,” Collins said. “Our employees love being able to contact Sparrow whenever they need clarity or help.”

"It's so frustrating when you can't get a hold of someone from claims or disability, and that's never the case with Sparrow. Our employees love being able to contact Sparrow whenever they need clarity or help." 

It’s especially valuable given that the benefits team couldn’t provide that level of leave planning and personalized guidance before. “When we managed leave ourselves, I had employees wait to get approved before plugging in PTO,” she explained, “because we needed to make sure they weren’t exceeding their salaries.”

Now, employees can see exactly how much they’re getting paid—including which portions of their paycheck come from their state, BHG, or insurance—on Sparrow’s dashboard. BHG managers have access to the dashboard too, so they can check their team’s leave dates and get automatic updates when changes occur.

“I really like the leave timeline feature on Sparrow’s dashboard, and use it almost exclusively for entering leave into my system,” Collins said. “It makes so much more sense to me than trying to read the dates in a list format.”

At every point in the leave management process, BHG appreciates the Sparrow team’s communication and kindness.

“All the Leave Specialists we work with are incredible—so smart, kind, and responsive. They’re always willing to jump on a call to talk through something,” Collins shared. “They save me so much time and energy.”

"I really like the leave timeline feature on Sparrow's dashboard, and use it almost exclusively for entering leave into my system."

Room to keep growing

Partnering with Sparrow has given BHG the consistency and security they needed to turn employee leave management into a set-it-and-forget-it function. Now, Collins and her team can focus on nurturing the people who fuel BHG’s growth.

“We’re continuing to grow and scale the company, evolving our products and improving wherever we can,” she said.

Sparrow systematizes and simplifies employee leave management for companies on major growth trajectories. Find out exactly how we work, or schedule a demo today.