Tip of the Day: Make your EAP more than just three letters

An alternately sad and scary article in USA Today shows that even for Americans who are working, the affects of the recession are far-reaching and can't be compartmentalized into separate "work" and "life" boxes.

The newspaper reports increased demand for therapists to help stressed out families with anxiety, depression and physical abuse. For employees, a workplace employee assistance program can provide much-needed help. Most employers now have one, but communication still lags.

A new "Five Minutes With ..." podcast with clinical psychologist Edward Trieber spoke with EBN Managing Editor Leah Shepherd about how employers can best communicate their EAPs and other benefits to help alleviate employee stress. Click here to download the audio.

What programs/policies are in place at your company to help employees with stress? Have you seen an uptick in demand for/requests about these services? Comment below.

More from EBN: Finances running low, stress running high: Employee stress levels rising as economy declines

Tip of the Day: Follow seven steps to merger success

Among February's "Five Minutes With ..." podcasts is Managing Editor Leah Shepherd’s interview with Len Gray, the head of the America’s M&A consulting business at Mercer. After you read our report on merger musts in this month's EBN, listen to Gray as he offers further tips for handling benefits during a merger or acquisition.

News You Can Use: Employees resolve to have better work-life balance

Ninety-six percent of full-time, U.S. workers say it will be equally or more important to find a better work-life balance in 2009, according to a new survey from FedEx Office.

Age is an important factor in the pursuit of work-life balance. As age increased, respondents were less likely to seek better work-life balance, possibly indicating that an acceptable level of balance has already been reached in older age groups.

To achieve their goal of better balance, 49% of full-time U.S. workers plan to take advantage of all their vacation time, while 41% plan to leave work at a reasonable hour, and 36% plan to take lunch breaks on a consistent basis. Another 29% plan to avoid doing work at home or during off-hours, while 24% will consider starting their work day earlier in the morning, and 21% plan to take advantage of flex-time options, the survey found.

Despite the recession and rising unemployment rate, 11% of full-time U.S. workers plan to find a better job, change jobs or change work locations as a way to find better work-life balance in 2009. --Leah Carlson Shepherd

Overheard @: Make your communication program recession-proof

This month, EBN spent "Five Minutes With ..." Kathryn Yates, a communication global practice leader at Watson Wyatt. Yates chatted with Managing Editor Leah Shepherd about how to effectively communicate with employees during these difficult economic times and to analyze the results of a Univers/EBN survey on employee communication. Read Shepherd’s story about the survey in the January issue.



EBN's "Five Minutes With..." series is brought to you by Universal American, experts in retiree group health plans.

News You Can Use: Employees hopping on the wellness bandwagon

Employees want to become healthier, and they are receptive to wellness programs offered by their employers. That’s the take-home message from the National Business Group on Health’s new survey.

As a result of employer communications about health and wellness, 43% of workers have made an effort to improve their overall health. For this type of communication, e-mail is the preferred format of 77% of employees. “They want more health care communications targeted to their interests,” says Helen Darling, president of NBGH. “Employees do value communications from their employer. ”

Other key findings include:
* 74% of employees are trying to adopt healthier lifestyles today in hopes of reducing future health care costs in retirement.
* 54% of workers say they would take advantage of health-related programs sponsored by their employer, union or health plan.
* 47% of employees say work demands prevent them from leading a healthier life.
* 34% of all employees would be very likely or extremely likely to participate in a stress management program if it was offered at work.

Darling notes, “The financial meltdown will make [wellness initiatives] more important. We know we need to do better.”