Work / Life Issues

EAP phone therapy is legit, but choose vendors wisely

03/01/2006

EAP-provided telephone counseling is controversial but becoming more common. Still, quality varies among vendors. Screen potential teletherapy providers carefully using the following six questions …

Plan Ahead for Take-the-Kids-to-Work Day: April 27

03/01/2006

Annually, the fourth Thursday in April (April 27 this year) is Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day, hosted by the Ms. Foundation for Women. To head off requests and confusion about whether/when the kids can come, establish some ground rules …

New CDC resources help you plan for potential flu pandemic

02/01/2006

If the avian flu currently circulating in chicken flocks in Asia mutates into a highly contagious human form, the consequences could be catastrophic. The Centers for Disease Control is urging private businesses to establish contingency plans …

Include retail store clinics in your health care strategy

02/01/2006

More retail superstores are adding low-cost medical clinics to their in-store services. Employers can use these "doc-in-a-box" services for low-cost employee preventive and wellness care. Check to see if a local clinic is opening, then consider this as part of a cost-cutting solution, not a cure …

If bird flu hits U.S. shores, prepare a telework plan

11/01/2005

How will your organization respond if a human bird flu outbreak strikes? A major flu pandemic is possible and now is the best time to prepare for the worst. Advice: Consider …

High gas prices offer retention opportunity

10/01/2005

With gas prices jumping over $3 a gallon, employees with long commutes may be thinking about working closer to home. Ease their pain by: 1) Talking with the top brass about …

Fewer employers offering flextime schedules

09/01/2005

A study by the Society for Human Resource Management says only 56 percent of employers now offer flex schedules, down from 65 percent in 2002. Why the change? Experts say …

Employees waste twice as much time as you think

08/01/2005

HR professionals assume that employees, on average, waste 56 minutes per day at work. But the truth is that U.S. employees admit to squandering more than two hours a day, says …

8 real-life strategies for keeping employees on board

07/01/2005

Issue: As the economy heats up, employees, yes, even yours, are wandering through the want ads and surfing job boards.
Risk: Being caught without an up-to-date retention strategy can disrupt …

How to set a work/home boundary that works

05/01/2005

Issue: How deeply do you want to get involved with employees’ personal lives?
Risk: Becoming a sounding board for every personal problem will eat up your workday (and drain you …