An ILO code of practice

Here is the first truly global exchange of ideas about Employee Assistance Programs--initiated by the D. Wayne Corneil, President of EASNA, the Employee Assistance Society of North America. Focusing on the impact of alcohol-related problems upon employment settings, experts from Germany, Australia, Switzerland, Canada, and Poland provide valuable insights into the current state of alcohol-related problems in their countries, attitudes toward alcohol, the effects of alcohol use on the workplace and society, and education and treatment programs that have proven successful with employees who need help. They also address other significant, often controversial issues--possible causes of increased alcohol consumption in various countries, functions of EAPs, and the efforts of WHO (World Health Organization) and the ILO (International Labour Organization) in combating the alcohol-related problems. Their fascinating examples of cultural attitudes about drinking and staggering statistics reflecting the universal nature of the problem of alcohol in the workplace illustrate precisely how alcohol-related problems disrupt the workplace worldwide and add billions of dollars annually to the costs of health care and goods and services. An important book for those who consult with employers and implement employee assistance programs, Alcohol in Employment Settings offers a unique view of how the economic, cultural, and social norms in other parts of the world--fundamentally different from those in North America--affect business operations, employment conditions, and the impact of employee assistance programs. A most timely and practical volume, Alcohol in Employment Settings is an important compilation of the results of a recent study of alcohol in the workplace conducted by the WHO and the ILO (International Labour Organization).

This new report provides a framework within which to assess compliance with core international labor standards and succeeds in taking an enormous step toward interpreting all relevant information into one central database. At the request of the Bureau of International Labor Affairs at the U.S. Department of Labor, the National Research Council's Committee on Monitoring International Labor Standards was charged with identifying relevant and useful sources of country-level data, assessing the quality of such data, identifying innovative measures to monitor compliance, exploring the relationship between labor standards and human capital, and making recommendations on reporting procedures to monitor compliance. The result of the committee's work is in two partsâ€"this report and a database structure. Together, they offer a first step toward the goal of providing an empirical foundation to monitor compliance with core labor standards. The report provides a comprehensive review of extant data sources, with emphasis on their relevance to defined labor standards, their utility to decision makers in charge of assessing or monitoring compliance, and the cautions necessary to understand and use the quantitative information.