8 Tips For Employers Who Want to Prevent Workers From Spreading the Flu

Woman with flu sneezes into tissue. Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.

With three months remaining in what is already being called the worst flu season in a decade, employers around the country are undoubtedly feeling the financial impact of increased health care costs and widespread absenteeism.  Making matters worse, according to one workplace authority, is the tendency of employees concerned about job security to keep coming to the office despite their apparent illness.

“The economy is still on shaky ground and many workers continue to be worried about losing their jobs, despite the fact that annual layoffs are at the lowest level since the late 1990s.  In this environment, workers are reluctant to call in sick or even use vacation days.  Of course, this has significant negative consequences for the workplace, where the sick worker is not only performing at a reduced capacity but also likely to infect others,” said John A. Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. Continue Reading

10 Lame Excuses When Calling In Sick

Playing hooky isn’t just for Ferris Bueller. In the past year, 30 percent of workers have called in sick when not actually ill, keeping on par with previous years. Sick days, legitimate or otherwise, also become more frequent around the winter holidays, with nearly one-third of employers reporting more employees call in sick during the holiday season.

The study was conducted online by Harris Interactive^© from August 13 to September 6, 2012 and included 2,494 hiring managers and human resource professionals and 3,976 workers across industries and company sizes. Continue Reading

Benefits of Results Only Work Environment (ROWE)

As economic conditions continue to slowly improve and companies are once again beginning to hire new employees to rebuild their workforce, employers across the country are looking for ways to attract and retain employees without resorting to hefty pay increases or expensive benefit plans. As a result, some employers have found that adopting a results-only work environment (ROWE) may be the key to creating an attractive work environment for employees.

ROWE evaluates employees solely on their output and not the amount of time spent in the office. Employees are free to take as much time off from work as needed as long as their established goals are being met. Employees working under ROWE are not micro-managed and hold greater accountability for the work they are producing. There have been reports of companies who, as a result of adopting ROWE, have experienced increased employee productivity and reduced voluntary turnover. Continue Reading

Pros and Cons of Being an Independent Contractor

A poor economy has pushed some unemployed or underemployed Americans towards self-employment. For some, the opportunity to be their own boss may prove serendipitous, while others may find that the costs of not being an employee are unexpectedly high.

“The number of independent contractors has risen in sectors that people normally don’t associate that closely with the self-employed,” said Michelle Walker, the writer of the article, and an independent contractor herself. “Some of that increase is probably a natural result of the internet, and the growing convenience of doing business in other places besides an office. But some of it is also probably attributable to dynamics of the economy. People who are defined as ‘unemployable’ by the establishment may discover that finding their own work, through various projects, is a viable option.” But should this solution be a long-term one? CreditQ suggests that, while there are some financial advantages to being “a 1099” (particularly for those who can’t find work elsewhere), there are also drawbacks that not everyone is aware of. Continue Reading