Disability organization names former Sedgwick executive as CEO

The Disability Management Employer Coalition on Thursday announced it has named Bryon Bass as its new CEO.

Mr. Bass, based in San Francisco, previously served as senior vice president, workforce absence and disability practice leader, for Sedgwick Claims Management Services Inc.

Mr. Bass said in an interview that his goals in his new position include educating professionals on better integrating disability management in employment practices — an issue workers compensation experts have found concerning.

“Regardless of the nature of injury, whether it’s occurring in workers comp or from an occupational perspective, the overlap in terms of the laws that apply are pretty consistent,” he said. “Anyone who’s in the field has responsibility for accommodation management or disability management and needs to be thinking about those things together and not as separate silos.”

 Working with employers on understanding the “patchwork” of state and federal laws and regulations on disability management is also a goal, Mr. Bass said, as the intersection of such measures “creates a very complex and confusing legal landscape for both employers and employees.”

DMEC’s membership includes 18,000 absence and disability management professionals in the U.S. and Canada. A DMEC member since 1996, Mr. Bass has served on the DMEC Executive Advisory Board and the DMEC Employer Advisory Council. He won the DMEC Partnership Award in 2009.

Prior to joining Sedgwick, Mr. Bass was director of integrated disability management at Pacific Gas and Electric.