ut" on the job in the near future. Of the people interviewed, it was thought that job stress is the single greatest stress in their life. (http://www.ncci.com/html/ncfoj2.htm) NCCIIn another case Hearsh vs Hughes Aircraft the employee accepted a lump settlement of $20,000 for a stress claim when he suffered a minor nervous breakdown and lost his job with the company. Yet another case in 1986 was settled out of court for $50,000 that involved a manager of a furniture rental store. After one year of hearings and court costs, the employee was awarded the lump sum payment due to stress induced by a hostile supervisor (Newsweek 1986). No doubt about it stress claims are on the rise, and industry is spending billions in court costs, lost wages and medical benefits. Work Site Health and Stress Management Programs: The research display in this paper establishes the increase of stress related problems in industry, the next logical step is to become proactive; prevent the degradation of mental health through stress management. In a survey performed by J. Fielding (1989) over 59% of companies with 750 employees or more have some type of stress management program in place and 87% have a health and fitness program in place. These statistics demonstrate the commitment companies are making to help the employees' mental health and physical well-being. The facility I work at has a Employee Assistance Program that has its roots in the late 1970's. During this time frame, the company and the union recognized the need for a jointly administered employee assistance program. The program had remained at status quo for a number of years and its effectiveness was questioned, and rightly so. One single, reactive program will not impact a work force the size of a small town in Nebraska (about 1800 employees). In 1989 with an increase in medical staff, a more proactive approach began with the company offering aerobics and karate classes on s...
