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Work / Life Issues

Encourage healthy behavior with wellness reminders

01/05/2009

A good wellness program can spur employees to ditch unhealthy behaviors, reducing their health care costs and helping them work more productively. But that’s only if they participate. Here are four ways your organization can bolster participation by improving the way it communicates wellness to employees.

Showers bring back more moms after baby comes

01/05/2009

At Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, 90% of new moms come back to work after they have their babies, but that wasn’t the case five years ago. Then, just 64% returned to work. So HR started throwing baby showers for expectant and adoptive moms and dads …

Backup care aids attendance when regular care falls through

01/05/2009

Employees of Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa rely on the organization’s backup dependent care program to step in when their regular arrangements fall through—even if the dependent is not an employee’s child.

Swaddling the cost of child care

12/31/2008

Cheaper child care is increasingly necessary as budgets tighten, says Lisa Belkin, a New York Times reporter who covers workplace issues. Here are some of the creative ways working families are reducing the costs.

7 unique employee benefits programs

12/30/2008

From surveys of employees’ lifelong dreams to alumni reunions to baby showers for moms-to-be, here’s a rundown of seven innovative benefits practices employers are using to reward and retain the staff they need. They’re compiled from the popular "What’s Working" pages of HR Specialist‘s Compensation & Benefits newsletter.

3 steps to jumpstart your company’s wellness program

12/09/2008

As health insurance costs skyrocket, even as benefits dwindle, so does the trend toward employers setting up wellness programs—71% of U.S. employers offered such programs in 2008. Here’s how to make the case for establishing a wellness program in your workplace, plus initial steps to put the plan in motion.

Assess needs of employees, business before offering perks

12/08/2008

Work/life benefits can help take the edge off employee stress during a time when people fear their jobs aren’t secure and managers are pressing workers to produce more with less. Still, it’s especially important during an economic downturn for organizations to limit benefits to those that will help them meet their bottom-line goals.

‘Dream survey’ clues Las Vegas firm to employee hopes, needs

12/08/2008

Station Casino executives want to know what their employees dream about. A 20-question “dream survey” asks workers at the Las Vegas-based organization questions like, “Do you dream of owning your own house?” and “Do you dream of owning your own computer?” Here’s what their answers led the organization to do.

Survey: Work site wellness works

12/08/2008

Work site wellness programs are more popular than ever because they are an economical way to offset rising employee health care costs, according to an American Heart Association survey.

Stress test: 9 questions to find out if you’re a victim or a master

12/02/2008

Everyone’s stressed these days—whether from financial worries or just the looming holidays. Some thrive on stress, but for others it’s an emotional and productivity drain. Here’s a simple self-assessment you can do to gauge your stress level—and do something about it.