Feature Channels: In the Workplace

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Barbara Risman, professor and head of sociology at the University of Illinois at Chicago, is available to discuss contemporary families and the challenges working mothers, as well as fathers, face in today's society. She says conventional thought is that American culture values families, but we don't really value what it takes to care for them. Risman contends we have a society in flux and workplaces, many of which lag behind with outdated beliefs and policies, must catch up to address these contradictions.

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Given the opportunity to earn incentives, employees will use the stairs more often, and thus improve their health, according to UAB study.

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All employees are accountable for something, but very few fully understand exactly what they are accountable for, according to a new study conducted by Wayne Hochwarter, the Jim Moran Professor of Business Administration in Florida State University’s College of Business, and research associate Allison Batterton.

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Experts offer advice on remaining professional in how you speak.

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In light of the recent influenza outbreak, a SLU study finds that majority of businesses are not prepared for a pandemic

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Workplace-based programs that include dietary advice coupled with behavioral counseling appear to be a promising approach for men and women with significant weight loss goals, based on the results of a pilot study. Employees enrolled in the intervention arm of a randomized controlled trial lost, on average, 18 pounds over a six-month period compared to a two pound weight gain in a control group.

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University of Florida family finance expert is available to talk about helpful tax tips. Here are his recommendations for saving time and money this tax season.

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Abusive bosses who target employees with ridicule, public criticism, and the silent treatment not only have a detrimental effect on the employees they bully, but they negatively impact the work environment for the co-workers of those employees who suffer from “second-hand” or vicarious abusive supervision, according to new research from the University of New Hampshire.

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As U.S. employers continued to hire, adding 157,000 workers in January, you might have heard a sigh of relief from college seniors and their parents. It’s college-recruiting season, and as career fairs pop up at universities across the country, second semester seniors kick their job search into higher gear. A Wake Forest University career counselor says while the improving economy is good news, graduating seniors still have to compete for those new positions. But there is time.

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Detaching from work -- mentally, physically and electronically -- is the key to recovery from job stress during nonwork hours, according to a Kansas State University researcher.

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Researchers studied cyberloafing -- wasting time at work on the Internet -- and the effects of Internet use policies and punishment on reducing cyberloafing.

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Research shows rudeness at work is rampant, and it’s on the rise. In 2011, half of the workers surveyed said they were treated rudely at least once a week - up from a quarter in 1998. New research shows the tangible cost of this bad behavior.

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By allowing employees to participate in a work-sponsored internal social networking site, a company can improve morale and reduce turnover, according to a Baylor University case study published in the European Journal of Information Systems.

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African-American and Hispanic students may be less likely than non-Hispanic white students to hold a job during the school year, but when they do, they tend to work somewhat longer hours and seem less likely to see their grades suffer than non-Hispanic white students with jobs, according to new research published by the American Psychological Association.

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Members of The National Communication Association who study interpersonal communication and political communication can provide insight into what has led to a perceived decline in civility and what lawmakers can do to increase civility.

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Loyola Occupational health expert helps businesses battle the flu season.

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This study found that the combination of workplace shock (losing a patient) and burnout in the healthcare field was likely to lead nurses to leave their jobs.

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A recent study found that applicants whose pictures appear on their social media profiles are viewed more favorably than applicants who are not pictured. Also, that applicants with "attractive" photos were considered stronger than those with "unattractive" pictures.

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Harassment of teen workers can be alleviated by providing them more meaningful assignments and coping strategies.

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A recent study found a strong relationship between cheating in college and counterproductive workplace behavior.

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Research shows that people are more forgiving of lies from a non-profit organization than they are from a for-profit (Fortune 500) company.

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Low-wage workers, who make up a large and growing share of the U.S. workforce, are especially vulnerable to financial hits that can result from on-the-job injuries and illnesses, according to a policy brief released today by researchers at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services (SPHHS). The policy brief, “Mom’s off Work ’Cause She Got Hurt: The Economic Impact of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses in the U.S.’s Growing Low-Wage Workforce,” was released along with a white paper showing that such workplace injuries and illnesses cost the nation more than $39 billion in 2010.

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As part of its year-long campaign addressing chronic disease in the workplace, the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine is providing tools and resources to help employers identify and respond to the impact of obesity on worker health and productivity. Such resources are of special relevance at this time of the year.

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Each year, more than three million American workers are diagnosed with cancer, leading to high productivity losses that mainly affect smaller companies, reports a study in the December Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, official publication of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM).

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New sociology study from The University of Texas at Austin shows telecommuters are significantly less likely to work a standard 40 hour schedule and more likely to work overtime than their office-working counterparts.

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Despite the end of the Great Recession, American families still rely on the income of wives at record levels, with employed wives’ contribution to total family income holding steady at 47 percent, which is its highest level in decades, according to new research from the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire.

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Employers are often more focused on hiring someone they would like to hang out with than they are on finding the person who can best do the job, suggests a study in the December issue of the American Sociological Review.

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A strike planned by Wal-Mart workers on one of America’s busiest shopping days has significance on many levels, according to Cornell University ILR School labor experts Ken Margolies, an associate in The Worker Institute in New York City; and Kate Bronfenbrenner, ILR’s director of Labor Education Research in Ithaca.

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In recognition of November as National Diabetes Month, the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM) is providing tools and resources to help employers identify and respond to the impact of diabetes on worker health and productivity.

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Although some scholars have suggested that the income gap between men and women is due to women’s reluctance to negotiate salaries, a new study shows that given an invitation, women are just as willing as men to negotiate. Men, however, are more likely to ask for more money when there is no explicit statement in a job description that wages are negotiable.

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Businesses will get more accurate assessments of potential and current employees if they do away with self-rated personality tests and ask those being assessed to find someone else to rate them, suggest results from a new study.

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The guide includes practical information to help veterans with disabilities understand their rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The ADA assures that all people have the same opportunities and rights.

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Work and lifestyle factors affecting the risk of disability due to low back disorders tend to be shared among family members, reports a study in the November Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, official publication of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM).

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The largest and most global examination to date into the state of public relations profiles a profession being reshaped by forces as current as digital networks and as timeless as generational divides.

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New research from the University of Adelaide shows that Generation X is already on the path to becoming more obese than their baby boomer predecessors.

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The BAT book series — short for Business Aha! Tips — is a collection of snappy, easy-to-read books with tips and “Use it Now” sections for immediate application of ideas. Written by two Boise State University authors, the first book focuses on creativity and is now available for $14.95 at Amazon.

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Critical data for more than 2,300 federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) cases are now available online (http://eeoclitigation.wustl.edu) thanks to a multi-year effort of researchers at Washington University School of Law’s Center for Empirical Research in the Law (CERL). The EEOC Litigation Project, which spans the period between 1997 and 2006, makes readily available detailed information about the EEOC’s enforcement litigation to legal scholars, social scientists, and policy-makers.

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-- Anyone who has followed news coverage of a plane crash has probably heard of a black box, an onboard device analyzed for clues into a flight’s demise. What if there were a black box for pilots that could determine, in real time, whether they are fit to fly, helping to head off cognitive and physical failures that could take a jet down? Recent issues with the physically demanding F-22 fighter jet show it’s time for in-flight pilot monitoring, Mayo Clinic (http://www.mayoclinic.org/) and other aerospace medicine physicians say.

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In a new University of Michigan poll, one-third of parents of young children report they are concerned about losing jobs or pay when they stay home to care for sick children who can’t attend child care.

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A comparison of union and non-union impact on an organization's culture and change, shows that unions tend to be more resistant to change and slower to adapt to culture shifts.

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In a challenge to prevailing wisdom that CEO and board chair positions should be held by two different people as "best practice," new research indicates that the roles should be split only when there is a performance problem, and then only through a "demotion strategy" that keeps the CEO but brings in an independent chair, as an overt signal to reverse course.

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White non-Hispanic construction workers are awarded higher workers' compensation settlements in Illinois than Hispanic or black construction workers with similar injuries and disabilities, according to researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health.

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Nurses and other hospital workers, especially those who work long hours or the night shift, often report trying to juggle the demands of the job and family obligations. A study out suggests that the higher the work-family conflict the greater the risk that health care workers will suffer from neck and other types of musculoskeletal pain.

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Workers pour sweat, blood and even dollars into the firms that employ them, especially in a labor market characterized by employment and retirement insecurity, says Marion Crain, JD, expert on labor and employment law and professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis. “Work can shape one’s life in ways that run to the core of identity,” she says.

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Judi Neal’s new book, The Spirit of Project Management, examines the role of spirituality in project management and explains how spirituality inspires team members and positively affects performance.

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With an 8.1 percent August unemployment rate and 12.5 million Americans out of work, a new Temple University study examines a neglected area of research: how the unemployment process impacts the willingness of those laid off to endorse or return to their previous employer.

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Workers who perceive their jobs aren't secure are more likely to rate themselves in poor health and have increased symptoms of anxiety and depression, reports the September Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, official publication of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM).