Short‐term impact of a voluntary health intervention on overall vs. preventive healthcare consumption

Healthtrac Rewards is a US‐based, workplace wellness intervention promoting healthy behaviour through voluntary self‐reporting of participants' dietary habits, physical activity and medical concerns. Monthly financial incentives encourage either primary participation or secondary participation requiring additional interaction with Healthtrac personnel. Using data from 17 533 eligible employees, the purpose of the study was to determine whether Healthtrac participants consumed fewer healthcare services, as measured by 2004 medical claim costs or numbers of procedures, relative to non‐participants. High‐cost individuals tended to self‐select into the programme. Costs were 22–27% greater among participants after controlling for other factors. Participants consumed more preventive care, however, which was correlated with reduced future procedures. The secondary intervention was more effective than the primary intervention, suggesting a priority on increasing intensity of involvement vs. basic enrolment.     

THE EMERGENCE OF INSTITUTIONALISED SOCIAL DIALOGUE IN SOUTH AFRICA

This paper looks at the conceptual framework of social dialogue, investment in social capital and some international definitions of social dialogue as background to developments in this sphere in South Africa. Social dialogue is viewed as a mechanism for problem‐solving and reducing transaction costs. The paper considers the ramifications of the 1979 Wiehahn Report on labour relations, as well as the nature of social dialogue in the apartheid era and its workplace origins. Institutionally, the stepping stones to the emergence of the NEF and Nedlac are discussed, together with some of the issues involved in, and formal outcomes of, Nedlac over the past eleven years in public policy choices. It closes with an evaluation of institutionalised social dialogue in South Africa and its future. “With the transition to non‐racial democracy in 1994, it became the task of an ANC‐led government to attempt to resolve the economic contradictions that apartheid had created. To achieve this requires massive economic and social changes, great programmes of investment and structural change. It is necessary to create the vital human capital needed at every level, from rudimentary literacy to the highest ranks of science and technology; to overcome enormous deficiencies in all forms of social infrastructure, including housing, schools, health, and transport; to return land to the black population and restore ravaged rural areas; to expand black ownership of mining, industry, commerce, and finance; and to diminish enormous inequalities in income and wealth. The new regime has made a promising start, but South Africa's past will exert a powerful influence on its present and future for a long time to come, and these huge tasks will not be swiftly or easily accomplished.” Charles Feinstein (2005 )     

Employee Awareness of Workplace Violence Policies and Perceptions for Addressing Perpetrators at Colleges and Universities

Most of the research on workplace violence has focused on workplace violence incidents and the development of models to predict and address the phenomenon. The assumption that all organizations are essentially similar in nature underlies this research. However, colleges and universities differ from for-profit businesses. Little, if any, research has been conducted to determine employees’ awareness of workplace violence policies and employee perceptions of potential perpetrators and how to address perpetrators which is necessary for increasing such policies’ effectiveness. The present study examines the awareness of employees at a large, public university in the Midwestern United States concerning WPV. Respondents indicate which sources they perceive to be likely perpetrators of workplace violence, and the actions that organization should take if WPV occurs. Based on this information, steps to increase employee awareness of workplace violence policies in colleges and universities are suggested.     

A labor perspective on fair pay: High-performance work at Corning,Inc.

The Corning-American Flint Glass Workers Union (AFGWU) partnership agreement provides a test case for the possibility of a more egalitarian and productive workplace. However, a conflict over fair compensation for high-performance work could become a major barrier to the realization of that promise. A model of fair pay is suggested, proposing that a goal of minimizing the job and pay hierarchy and maximizing the return for employee contributions would facilitate “ethical partnership” and create incentives for high-performance work. Former Shop Steward, Executive Board member, President of AFGWU Local 1000, Corning, New York. (Organizational affiliation given for identification purposes only. The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and in no manner, whether written or implied, represent a view that is endorsed or sanctioned by the AFGWU.)     

Employee attitudes toward drug testing: Effects of individual characteristics and employment setting

Testing for the presence of drug continues to gain popularity as a method for controlling drug use in the workplace. It is important that employers understand how potential applicants and current employees will react to the various types and purposes of drug testing. Employees (n = 529) were interviewed to investigate the role of attitudes toward drugs and work setting characteristics in explaining acceptance or rejection of drug testing. Individuals believing users should be held responsible for becoming dependent on cocaine, who felt the primary cause of cocaine addiction was weak moral character, and those who felt cocaine users should be treated as criminals were more supportive of drug screening and the testing of current employees.     

Free expression in the workplace: Does the public-private distinction matter?

This article presents an argument for a judicial approach to ward employee free speech cases that would afford private sector employees substantially greater free speech protection. The argument proceeds first by examining a recent case,Novosel v. Nationwide Insurance Company, which if followed widely as precedent would make the public-private distinction much less important in employee free speech cases. This examination results in a strong endorsement of theNovosel decision. A clear statement of the reasons for the endorsement, however, takes one far beyond the opinion of the court into an analysis of the conditions under which courts may rely upon public policy as a basis for decision.     

Revision of the workplace bullying checklist: the importance of human resource management's role in defining and addressing workplace bullying

Human resource professionals (HRPs) in the US are important actors in workplace bullying (WB) situations. Most WB research currently focuses on the target but fails to include the individual most often left to interpret and respond to complaints of bullying – the HRP. We argue that because HRPs must work to identify, understand and deal with victims and bullies; HR should have a voice in assessing WB. The difficulties HRPs report in effectively responding to employee complaints of WB have been attributed to a number of factors, including conflicts among multiple HR roles in the organisation, a paucity of specific organisational policies and guidelines for dealing with bullying, and ambiguous definitions and criteria for behaviour to be considered bullying. The impetus for the study reported here was the need to clarify the definition of bullying incorporating the HR perspective, determine what behaviours and criteria are seen as bullying by HRPs. Scale use and limitations are discussed as well as theoretical and practical implications.     

Violence in the Workplace—A Review with Recommendations

Workplace violence is a serious, growing and costly problem for American business and industry. In spite of the scope of the problem managers have been slow to respond, in fact appear to be in a state of denial. Profiles of both perpetuators and victims of workplace violence have been developed, but these profiles are so inclusive as to include almost everyone. Many causes have been recognized, most of which are related to stress. The courts offer only limited assistance; in fact, some laws limit tests and measures that might help identify violent employment candidates and employees. There are recommended courses of action intended to prevent workplace violence but little assurance that they can prevent it. Most of these approaches address the root causes of violence by focusing on stress.     

国内员工帮助计划(EAP)研究综述

与国外相比,国内EAP在实践操作和理论研究方面取得的成绩都非常有限,发展有待加快。为使EAP在国内更好地立足、发展,需要从质和量上加强EAP理论研究及投入更多精力开展高质量实践探索,发挥EAP对促进员工身心健康、提高组织绩效以及构建和谐社会的积极作用。     

Workplace isolation and job performance： A study on carpet weaving women

Workplace isolation has been recognized as a critical issue in organizational theory. Studies have found that employees who felt isolated might also show low performance in their organizations. However, there is very little empirical research about the relationship between perceived isolation and job performance, and most of the studies were conducted on salespeople working in the virtual offices. In this study, it is aimed to investigate the relationship between workplace isolation and job performance in terms of productivity and emotional outcomes of carpet weaver women. In order to do this, job performance of a sample of 238 employees who were exposed to a radical workplace change was analyzed. The means of the performance variables before and after five years of the workplace change were statistically compared via paired sample t-tests and the results indicated significant differences between pre and post means of the performance variables. A qualitative research was also carried out through a number of in-depth interviews with the carpet weavers to enrich the breadth and depth of the findings. Findings of the qualitative study replicated the results of the quantitative study that monotonous and unsocial working conditions lowered the job performance of the employees.