Leave Coverage Scoping Tool

More than system access, which is the usual mistake. Access has to be tested rather than only granted. Payroll needs every manual adjustment and approval step documented, because those are the parts not obvious from the system. Benefits needs every deadline falling inside the leave window written down with who can approve a change. Retirement plan administration needs the authorization process started early, since plan providers take time to process it. Compliance needs a calendar for the window with an owner per filing. Employee questions need one named point of contact, communicated before the leave rather than after. And the return needs its own plan, so the handover happens twice.

A leave under six weeks covering one or two task areas is fixed-fee shaped: it can be scoped and priced once, which is simpler for both sides at that length. Six weeks or longer, or three or more task areas, is retainer shaped, because at that size a single fixed fee either underprices the work or forces an artificially narrow scope that leaves gaps.

Because it is the failure point we hit first in a real engagement. Authorizations for enrollment changes, loans and distributions typically require processing time with the plan provider, and that time runs in parallel with everything else rather than after it. The tool raises it unprompted on any lead time under four weeks rather than waiting to be asked.

No. Each task area you select adds its own named line, so the output describes your handoff rather than a generic one. Two lines always appear regardless of scope, because they are what fail most often in practice: testing the covering person's access rather than only granting it, and drafting a plan for the return.