Heartburn or GERD can Kill

Heartburn is a common annoyance. The busy lifestyle, quick meals, fatty or spicy foods all contribute to the occasional need of a chewable pain reliever. The acceptance of heartburn as an inconvenient, but natural, part of the daily grind can blind you to the warning that a severe heartburn symptom can bring.

Heartburn as a Disorder

Heartburn can be a symptom as well as a disorder. Simple heartburn or GERD can be controlled and dealt with. However, heartburn can signal the presence of a much more serious problem. If it’s heartburn, you will have a burning sensation in the chest usually after eating. There may be a spread of the burning to the throat, sometimes accompanied by a bad taste, difficulty in swallowing, belching, coughing, hoarseness and/or wheezing.

It can become worse by lying down or bending over or by eating. Relief can come from an antacid. While the more severe heartburn symptoms may be mistaken for a heart attack, simple heartburn is usually not made worse by exercise. If there is any concern that the pain may signal a heart attack, get help quickly.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

How to Deal With Managing Absence In The Workplace

By Joseph Michaels

It seems that many managers tend to be unaware as to issues relating to managing absence. However dealing with such issues is an integral part of personnel management and as a result, there is simply no doubt that a manager needs to become involved.

There are many complexities associated with managing attendance in a business. Often, dealing with personnel brings with it many facets that can be sometimes difficult to handle. And this only refers to dealing with the employees that are actually in attendance! Actually, even though an employee may not be in the office, the need to manage issues related to the employees absence is critical as well.

At the core of employee benefits and attendance management is sick leave. This is because employees cannot be expected to work at peak performance when they are sick and if the do not get paid when they are recuperating, they will look towards another employer who will provide such compensation. However, it is important when managing absence to make sure employees are not taking advantage of sick leave benefits. And, of course, it is also helpful that a company does not create an environment where the individual is repeatedly unable to go to work.

Namely, it is important to ensure the workplace is one that is stress free. When employees are under extreme work-related stress, they will develop conditions that make them less likely to attend work regularly. Extreme stress can sometimes mimic flu related symptoms and this is why fatigued and burned out employees will call out sick regularly. This can negatively impact office performance and can occur with no real end in sight. Namely, this is because the reasons for the stress have not been removed from the workplace equation. However, if an office does take these steps, it may be able to reduce sick leave and improve attendance management dramatically.

To a great extent, if an employee is not feeling well, it is best that he stays away from work. Remember, the sole purpose of sick leave, is to allow an employee time to recover after they've been ill. Essentially, unless an employee is abusing the sick leave system, management should avoid making a big issue of it. It simply cannot be stressed enough, just how crucial it is for management to fully understand the principles concerning managing absence amongst the workforce.

And, ultimately, it is important to distinguish between legitimate absences and those that may be less than legitimate. In general, two-thirds of employee sick days are based on an actual sickness. However, 1/3 of sick days are taken flippantly.

Of course, it's not in a company's best interest to falsely accuse employees of abusing the sick leave policy and because of this, it can be extremely difficult for management to distinguish between legitimate and illegitimate absence. Interestingly enough, studies tend to suggest that approximately 65 percent of sick leave taken is taken for legitimate reasons, while the remainder is for illegitimate reasons.

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1 comment:

Unknown said...

Thanks for sharing simple steps about How to Managing absence in the workplace