Review of Public Personnel Administration

Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) has created a need for new policy development initiatives in many public and non-profit organizations Personnel manag ers, increasingly, are asked to design and implement AIDS policies Many are over whelmed by the multitude of management and legal issues This article examines the primary legal considerations and provides personnel managers with a framework to develop AIDS policies Summaries of previously developed policies and guidelines from federal, state and local government agencies are provided

This article presents a discussion of the current status of drug testing programs at the federal, state and local levels and includes two Supreme Court rulings on this issue Major management concerns are addressed and suggestions are offered about the role of the personnel department in the drug testing arena

As the health risks of tobacco use have become better known, smoking in the workplace has become a policy issue Employers need to be informed about recent developments and what actions may be taken to restrict smoking in the workplace This article discusses legislative and administrative restrictions on smoking in the workplace, the rights of nonsmokers in the workplace, and the rights and responsibilities of employers

Stress in public organizations can affect the health, well-being and productivity of the workforce This article examines three so-called "high stress" government jobs (nurses, police officers and air traffic controllers), identifies the sources, symptoms, and conse quences of stress, and compares stress levels in these occupations with those in other populations Public personnel managers can work with others to prevent, detect, and manage stress in their work settings The authors discuss and illustrate various individ ual and or ganizational strategies relevant to stress management in each of the three oc- cupations

This article provides an overview of public sector Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) and identifies issues to which public sector managers should be sensitive EAPs can assist troubled employees and their supervisors and reduce health care costs related to the behavior of troubled employees and their families The continued escalation of health care costs will motivate many employers to turn to EAPs as part of their health care cost containment efforts However, there are many barriers to EAP effectiveness, and measuring EAP success is difficult To he effective, public sector EAP administra tors must be sensitive to the unique characteristics of the public sector workplace and the changing nature of the government workforce, and must have access to the or gani zation's personnel system