How Illumio lowered leave management costs without cutting corners on employee care

Illumio is the leader in ransomware and breach containment, redefining how organizations contain cyberattacks. Recently named a Customers’ Choice in Gartner Peer Insights Voice of the Customer for Network Security Microsegmentation, Illumio protects over a dozen Fortune 500 companies, six of the largest global banks, and three of the largest SaaS enterprise brands.

What sets Illumio apart, aside from its sophisticated software, is the company’s realistic approach to cybersecurity, valuing containment and resilience over prevention and permanence. With Illumio, companies can easily gauge their risk, set custom security controls, and contain breaches before they escalate. The result: serious time savings and a stronger bottom line. Illumio stopped ransomware in just 10 minutes, and nets an average 111% ROI.

Integral to Illumio’s success is its diverse employee population, scattered across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, and Singapore.

“We aim to always invest in our people where it matters most,” said Laura Brown, Senior Benefits Program Manager at Illumio. Along with comprehensive health care, Illumio provides employees with wellness reimbursements, professional coaching opportunities, and paid parental, medical, and family care leave.

“We want to make sure our employees receive white glove service when they’re going on leave to take care of themselves or their family members,” Brown said.

One of the resources Illumio relies on to guarantee that high-caliber service is Sparrow.

The challenge: Tedious payroll calculations and limited time to support employees

Prior to partnering with Sparrow, Illumio outsourced leave to a different leave administrator, but they didn’t check off every box for Brown and her team.

“Our previous leave vendor handled leave tracking and compliance, as well as connecting with the employee and instructing them how to complete forms,” Brown shared. But their services didn’t cover one crucial piece of leave management: payroll calculations.

“My team was responsible for calculating payroll,” said Brown, “which was extremely challenging, in large part because we’re not payroll experts but also because the calculations were done manually.”

The cost wasn’t aligned with the team’s level of expected deliverables and services. “We were paying a lot more than what we were getting in return,” she explained.

“Sparrow saves me at least 10 to 15 hours every pay period.”

“When I looked into other leave vendors, Sparrow stood out in terms of their all-encompassing price model, which included payroll calculations and white glove service,” a component Brown said was essential.

Illumio desired personalized guidance for their employees, a service their previous vendor didn’t offer. “Employees in states with complex leave laws would come to me all the time asking for help with the state application process, and I didn’t have the bandwidth to help like I wanted to,” Brown explained.

For Brown, the final draw was Sparrow’s Canadian leave support. “At the time, there were no other leave administrators offering international coverage, so that sold us on Sparrow,” she said.

“I really value the fact that once we enter a leave into the system, Sparrow takes over and I can work on my other responsibilities.”

The solution: Partner with Sparrow for full-service employee leave management

Partnering with Sparrow solved every concern Illumio had with the employee leave management process, from payroll headaches to Canadian compliance.

“I really value the fact that once we enter a leave into the system, Sparrow will take over and I can work on my other responsibilities,” Brown said. “Knowing that leave management is off my plate, that everything will be taken care of, and that I’ll be updated along the way—it makes me feel at ease.”

After Brown initiates an employee leave, a Sparrow Leave Specialist schedules an intake call with that employee; during the call, they go over the employee’s benefits, break down the process of applying for state benefits, and answer questions.

“It’s amazing that Sparrow can initiate claims on our employees’ behalf.”

At that point, Illumio employees can focus on preparing for their leave instead of taking a crash course in state benefits. After Sparrow completes and submits paperwork for employees, Sparrow Leave Specialists follow up with insurance providers and state agency representatives to make sure employees have everything they need to receive full benefits.

“It’s amazing that Sparrow can initiate claims on our employees’ behalf,” said Brown. “A lot of Sparrow’s competitors weren’t doing that when we signed up—and many still aren’t.”

In the meantime, Sparrow handles all leave-related administration for Brown’s team: tracking leaves, submitting paperwork on Illumio’s behalf, navigating compliance from region to region, and—the best part for Brown—streamlining payroll. In addition to automating Illumio’s payroll calculations, Sparrow also generates custom payroll reports.

“If our payroll team has questions, they can pull the payroll report directly from the dashboard whenever they need to. It’s really helped in terms of visibility.”

“Now our payroll department has access to the Sparrow dashboard and team, too,” explained Brown. “If they have questions, they can pull the payroll report directly from the dashboard whenever they need to. It’s really helped in terms of visibility, for my partner teams as well.”

Along with the standard Sparrow dashboard, Illumio takes advantage of Sparrow’s HR Business Partners (HRBP) dashboard. “Any employee leave updates are automatically emailed to the employee’s HRBP and manager, which is efficient and helpful,” Brown said.

Sparrow’s technology and leave expertise combined have saved Brown a significant amount of time. “Between the ongoing conversations regarding employee claims, the initial conversations that I set up with employees, and the payroll calculations I had to do, Sparrow saves me at least 10 to 15 hours every pay period,” she said.

“Sparrow’s subject matter expertise is invaluable.”

Building a high-value partnership

To Illumio, Sparrow hasn’t just been another vendor to offload work to—they’ve been a proactive, collaborative partner in all things leave.

“I really value our weekly meetings with Sparrow’s client experience team,” said Brown. “If I have questions or concerns, Sparrow takes action right away. The Sparrow team really digs in to make sure they’re meeting all our needs.”

She especially appreciates Sparrow’s commitment to helping Illumio stay compliant and agile in the face of ever-changing leave laws. “Our client experience manager is great about giving me guidance on new leave laws, sharing what other Sparrow clients are doing, and offering suggestions for how to advise our HRBPs,” Brown explained. “Their subject matter expertise is invaluable.”

With Sparrow supporting leave management from end to end, Illumio has saved money, reduced administrative work, streamlined Canadian leave compliance, and given Illumio employees a smoother employee leave experience.

Sparrow is one solution that solves countless leave management problems. See exactly what we offer or book a demo today.