THE NATION’S NEWSPAPER
Collegiate
Case
Study
www.usatodaycollege.com
U.S. workers feel
burn of long hours,
less lesisure
By Stephanie Armour
2-3
In the war on colds,
personality counts
By Marilyn Elias
Summary Statement
4-5
Rising job stress
could affect
bottom line
By Stephanie Armour
5-6
Catnap is best way to
stretch your day
By Al Neuharth, USA TODAY Founder
Stress:
The Workforce
Epidemic
6
Discussion Questions and
Future Implications
Additional Resources
7
2004 Phi Theta Kappa Case Study
Challenge Winners
Stress: The Workforce Epidemic Nu Chi Chapter, Chipola College,
Marianna, Florida
Biotechnology and Human Welfare Beta Theta Omicron Chapter, Skyline College,
San Bruno, California
Individual Insurance Wanda Hamblen, Beta Zeta Mu Chapter,
Western Iowa Technical Community College,
Sioux City, Iowa
Americans, the FDA, and Canada:
Prescription Drugs and the New Drug
Trafficking Eric Erkenbrack, Alpha Kappa Alpha Chapter,
Normandale Community College,
Bloomington, Minnesota
Americans are becoming increasingly
stressed from overworking themselves
to the limit on their jobs-and researchers
say it is having damaging effects on their
health. In an effort to boost the sluggish
economy, Americans are working longer
hours in the workplace. In 1977, combined weekly hours for dual-earning couples with children stood at 81 hours. Now,
that number has soared to 91 hours per
week. This new trend has had its upsideUnited States productivity has finally surpassed that of Europe and Japan-but its
adverse effects far outweigh its advantages. According to the Chicago-based
company ComPysch, there has been a
23% increase in stress therapy requests
from clients in the first three months
of 2003 compared with the same time
frame in 2002. Additional surveys report
a 35% increase in anxiety and stress
related ailments in the workplace in the
last year. Escalating research suggests
that there are extreme mental and physiological problems associated with overwork, including more susceptibility to
chronic illnesses.
In addition to costing Americans hundreds of hours of invaluable sleep, intense
personal or work-related stress over a
period of time significantly increases the
chances of getting ill. Relaxed people
have shown to be less susceptible to sickness than their more tense counterparts.
In fact, adults who scored poorly on calmness tests are three times more likely
to acquire colds than the more relaxed
sect of people. Arthur Stone, a psychologist at the State University of New YorkStony Brook, conducted a three month
study of daily stress levels and conse-
quent illnesses. The consensus was the
body contained more antibodies to infection during “stress-free” days; however,
during more taxing times, fewer antibodies were present. Thus, adults catch
cold three to five days after their most
stressful days.
Americans’ insistence to work “to the
max” has undeniably led to financial success in the business world, but its consequential effects on health are costing
businesses, as well. Mandatory overtime
costs industries up to $300 billion per
year in fatigue and stress related problems. If Americans continue at this pace,
these costs will continue to rise, and in
time, rival the profit the country is amassing from its constant productivity.
If Americans cannot afford to cut back
their hours, stress and its negative effects
can be subsided by something as simple
as a catnap. A 2002 Harvard University
study discovered that a midday nap can
sharply increase performance. Before the
recent economic recession, many employers embraced this concept; they went as
far as to offer “powernap” rooms for midday breaks. Unfortunately, those napping
rooms have now been transformed into
coffee rooms to keep employees awake.
There are many relevant health-related
issues plaguing our society today, but stress
in the workplace and its harmful effects
on employees is a potentially disastrous
issue that is only getting worse. This case
study was created to inform others of the
negative effects of stress in the workplace
while offering suggestions on future
implications of this potentially detrimental
epidemic to the American workforce.
Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.
AS SEEN IN USA TODAY MONEY SECTION, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2003, PAGE 1B
U.S. workers feel burn of long hours, less leisure
Employees pay cost
of rising productivity
By Stephanie Armour
USA TODAY
A backlash is building against America’s
work epidemic.
More employees are resisting companies’
demands for longer hours on the job, the
24/7 pace of business that means operations never cease, and the surrender of
leisure time to work because of new technology such as cellphones and e-mail.
“People are putting in 40 and 50 hours
a week, and there’s not enough time for
anything,” says Gretchen Burger, in Seattle,
an organizer with Take Back Your Time, a
grass-roots movement aimed at focusing
attention on the issue of overwork. “There
is an alternative.”
Some workers, unwilling to clock extra
hours without extra pay, are suing their
companies over alleged overtime violations.
In fiscal 2003, the Labor Department collected $212 million in back wages, which
include overtime violations. That’s a 21%
increase over the record-setting amount
collected in 2002.
Some economists also believe that many
productivity gains of the ’90s can be attributed to longer work hours rather than the
efficiency of new technology.For the first
time, industries that have been notorious
for their taxing schedules are scaling back.
New guidelines now limit the number of
hours that medical residents can work. And
starting Jan. 4, federal regulations will
require many truck drivers to set aside more
time for breaks.
Some beleaguered workers are also taking action, changing to less-demanding occupations or leaving corporations to start their
own businesses, where they can feel more
in control of their work lives. Others are scaling back to spend more time with families.
week, to about 50 a week, and he downsized his business by reducing products and
shedding staff.
ing to the International Labor Organization
(ILO). Hours were about the same in the
USA as in Japan.
Faith, 40, who worked in information
services at a bank, opted to stay home
with children.
Combined weekly work hours for dualearning couples with children rose 10 hours
per week, from 81 hours in 1977 to 91 hours
in 2002, according to a new study by the
New York-based Families and Work Institute.
“My wife and I decided that we needed
to cut back on our work hours and simplify
our lives,” says Rothberg, 37, who runs
Minneapolis-based online career site
CollegeRecruiter.com. He has two sons, ages
9 and 7, and a daughter, 4. “The result?
We started to love our lives again and two
years later decided to have another child.
Our daughter owes her life to our decision
to try to bring balance to our lives.”
Employees feel the strain. Mounting
research shows there’s a tangible downside
to overwork, from mental-health problems
to physical ailments and job injuries caused
by fatigue and stress. It’s also a bottom-line
issue: A study by the Economic Policy
Institute found that mandatory overtime
costs industry as much as $300 billion a year
in stress- and fatigue-related problems.
Working to the max
About six years ago, Steven Rothberg and
his wife, Faith, decided to make a change.
They sat down, crunched the numbers and
took the plunge: Steve cut back his work
hours, sometimes as much as 80 hours a
But they’re the exception. U.S. workers
put in an average of 1,815 hours in 2002. In
major European economies, hours worked
ranged from about 1,300 to 1,800, accord-
Cody Mooneyhan, 31, can relate. He works
as much as 14 hours a day, getting up at 4:30
a.m. and arriving home at 9:30 p.m. to work
two jobs: senior writer for Vanguard
Communications and assistant at the
Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.
Page 2
American Journal of Pathology. His wife,
Renée, 31, works several nights a week as
a social worker. His employers don’t require
long hours, but Mooneyhan feels he must
work two jobs to support his three children:
Sarah, 1, Zoe, 3, and Zack, 7.
He says he works to maintain a middleclass lifestyle, not to have luxuries. He lives
in a three-bedroom town house, has a 7year-old computer and owns a Toyota Tercel
and a minivan.
Says Mooneyhan, of Germantown, Md.:
“Being tired makes everything that much
more stressful, but it’s like having a baby.
You get used to it. It’s kind of sad. The kids
sometimes ask, ‘What’s the deal with Dad?
Does he still live here?’ I’ve thought, ‘This
is going to kill me.’ ”
Output gains due to longer hours
Some doubt the effort to curb hours will
cause the USA to adopt the more leisurely
approach of Europe, where women in
Sweden get 96 weeks of maternity leave
and workers in France enjoy about five
weeks of vacation a year.
Some efforts to curtail hours
Under pressure
The number of hours worked by
couples has increased by more than
10% in 25 years.
Combined work hours of all
couples (dual and single earner):
1977
70
82
2002
Combined work hours of dualearner couples with children:
1977
81
2002
91
Source: Families and Work Institute 2002
National Study of the Changing Workforce
Increased hours could be contributing to unhappiness on the job.
Not satisfied with their job
83%
Not happy with their work/
life balance
80%
Consider themselves overworked
“Good luck,” says Stephen Roach, chief
economist for Morgan Stanley in New York.
He believes much of the accelerated productivity in the USA since the mid-1990s
is due to longer work hours.
An ILO report in September found that
U.S. productivity grew in 2002, surpassing Europe and Japan in annual output per
worker for the first substantial period since
World War II. The report found that the difference was due to the longer hours worked
by Americans.
But much of that growth isn’t picked up
in government data measuring work hours,
Roach says.
“This is work that happens outside the
workplace,” he says. “People work in planes,
cars and at home.”
Government data on hours worked don’t
capture time put in off the job, such as during weekends, or after-hours work that many
salaried employees do on laptops, cellphones
and e-mail. They also don’t capture the overall rise in hours put in by families.
But the data do show a recent uptick in
the average workweek for production and
non-supervisory workers as the economic
recovery picks up steam.
57%
Source: Monster’s 2003 Work/Life Balance
Survey of between 36,128 and 61,346 users.
By Alejandro Gonzalez, USA TODAY
Hours are rising in part because of new
technology, which makes it easier to work
outside the office, and a sluggish economy,
which has led companies to lay off workers, leaving fewer workers shouldering the
same (or more) work.
Even vacations are going by the wayside:
Employees are handing companies more than
$21 billion in unused vacation days each year,
according to a study by Expedia.com.
Andy Lefkowitz, 47, took at least a month
of vacation when he worked as a securities
lawyer. Now, he’s president of Ganeden
Biotech in Cleveland. As the boss, he says,
he’s lucky if he takes two weeks off a year.
“The hours are also more intense,” says
Lefkowitz, a father of three who works
about 10 hours a day and some evenings
after the children go to sleep. “Information
is coming at you from so many different
directions. ... I don’t take vacations. Maybe
just a day here or there.”
A backlash to the overwork trend is building in Philadelphia, Boston, Seattle and other
cities where dozens of events were held
in the fall to mark the first Take Back Your
Time Day. Organizers of the grass-roots
movement want to establish the Oct. 24
event as an annual affair to draw attention
to the issue of overwork. Several jurisdictions, including Seattle, officially proclaimed
Oct. 24 as Take Back Your Time Day.
Efforts to ease the leisure-time shortage are also catching the attention of politicians. The U.S. Senate this year passed a
resolution designating October as National
Work and Family Month — a move that
organizers of the Take Back Your Time
movement say has put the work and home
conflict onto the national stage. It has also
become an issue that presidential contenders might have to tackle: This month,
Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, who
is seeking the Democratic nomination, proposed a paid family leave program for
employees.
Some proponents trying to curb overwork believe change is already afoot:
uStarting this year, all 7,800 medical residency programs must comply with new
limits on work hours. Guidelines issued
by the Accreditation Council for Graduate
Medical Education include limiting resident
hours to a maximum of 80 hours a week.
Programs that don’t comply can lose their
accreditation.
uA report in November from the Institute
of Medicine of the National Academies found
that “long work hours pose one of the most
serious threats to patient safety.”
The report calls on regulators to bar nurses
from working more than 12 hours a day and
60 hours a week. There are more than 4
million registered nurses and nursing assistants in the country.
uNew federal rules for truck drivers —
the first major change since 1939 — will
require truckers to increase their rest time
to 10 hours from eight in a 24-hour period.
In most cases, the total time a driver can be
on duty will drop to 14 hours from 15.
Some companies are responding by allowing workers to customize schedules. Jennifer
Maler, 29, is a tax compliance specialist at
Ernst & Young. Working full time, she
wanted more time for other passions, such
as modeling and dancing. “I love what I
Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.
Page 3
do, but I felt like I was living at the office,”
Maler says.
So she asked — and got permission — to
adopt a flexible work schedule. In 1999, she
took a pay cut and began working a 30-hour
week spread over three days.
made me a more complete person.”
Although the growing push to reclaim time
sounds appealing to some employees, others say long hours and after-hour work have
become so ingrained that change might
be hard.
“It’s the best thing I ever did,” says Maler,
who works in New York. “It’s given me
the ability to stay with my career, and it’s
As chairman and CEO of HealthExpo,
which organizes health fairs around the
USA, Cynthia Ekberg Tsai, 47, of New York,
often arrives at work before her team. After
working through lunch, she may leave at
8 p.m. for dinner and return to the office
until 1 a.m.
“I do not go to lunch, because it gives me the
chance to keep on working. Do I have the sense
that people are working harder? Yes,” says
Ekberg Tsai. “Most people overcommit. We
haven’t learned the magical word of ‘no.’ ”
AS SEEN IN USA TODAY LIFE SECTION, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2003, PAGE 5D
In the war on colds, personality counts
Evidence links stress,
social life to resistance
By Marilyn Elias
USA TODAY
The common cold is not an equal-opportunity attacker.
Everyone knows it’s contagious, yet some
stay healthy or suffer only mild symptoms
even when they’re exposed to armies of
sniffling kids and co-workers. Others seem
to be knocked out by every passing bug.
Scientists are far from understanding
everything about colds. But a growing pool
of evidence suggests that personality, stress
and social life all can influence healthy adults’
vulnerability to cold symptoms.
Just like in kindergarten, those who “play
well with others” are better off, says psychologist Sheldon Cohen of CarnegieMellon University in Pittsburgh. For 16 years
he has been exposing volunteers to colds
by dropping rhinoviruses into their noses.
Then he quarantines them for five days
to see who gets sick. Medical tests and
questionnaires show:
uHappy, relaxed people are more resistant to illness than those who tend to be
unhappy or tense. Adults with the worst
scores for calmness and positive mood are
about three times more likely to get colds
than the most relaxed and contented adults.
When happy people do get sick, their symptoms are milder.
uThe more extroverted a person is, the
less likely he is to catch cold.
Use common
sense against the
common cold
More than 200 viruses cause the common cold, and they’re all on the prowl
for victims.
“The only way to be sure you’ll get no
more colds is to become a hermit,” says
Jack Gwaltney of the University of
Virginia School of Medicine, an expert
on infectious diseases.
Still, health and lifestyle practices matter. Among the important ones:
uGetting enough sleep helps protect against infections.
uFrequent hand washing after
uSerious work-related or personal stress
for at least a month increases the chances
of catching cold. The longer people had lived
with bad stress, the more likely they were
to catch cold in the lab.
uPlaying diverse social roles — spouse,
parent, worker, friend, club member —
improves resistance to infection. Those
with three or fewer roles were four times
more likely to get colds than those with six
or more.
The stress factor
Pam Jacobson, 39, knows about stress
and demands: She has three children ages
3 to 9, a husband who works long hours
and a “chauffeur” schedule that traps her
in Los Angeles traffic about two hours a day.
exposure to someone with a cold helps
to lower your chances of getting it,
Gwaltney says. “And keep your fingers
out of your nose and eyes, because that’s
where it’s easy for the virus to invade.”
uRegular exercisers also catch fewer
colds. It may be the stress relief or some
other, unknown factor, researchers say.
uModerate alcohol use — about two
drinks a day — correlates with less risk
for colds. It’s not known whether this is
because alcohol promotes relaxation or
has other infection-fighting effects.
uSmokers don’t get more colds but
do have worse symptoms, Gwaltney
says; smoke worsens their airway irritation, nasal congestion and coughs.
For more information on colds, and
evading them, visit Gwaltney’s Web site,
www.commoncold.org.
“I feel like I’m always juggling,” she says.
“They all have different activities. I’m always
on the way somewhere. I can barely remember things, I have to write everything down.”
Still, Jacobson is, by nature, an “up” and
calm person, says her mother, Gloria Welles.
“Chaos can be going on all around her, but
she’s very steady.”
Although her kids bring home colds, and
she gets them sometimes, symptoms tend
to be mild, “and I don’t stop my life,”
Jacobson says. She attends yoga class twice
a week to relieve stress and plays tennis.
She also keeps up with pals. “I have a lot
of friends, and I make time to see them.”
The tie between human behavior and vul-
Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.
Page 4
nerability to illness is not magical. Scientists
are finding some explanations. For example, in a three-month study of daily moods
and illness, adults had more antibodies to
infection on days with positive events. The
worse the day, the fewer antibodies, says
psychologist Arthur Stone of State University
of New York-Stony Brook.
Cohen believes a diverse social network
can buffer against losses in any one area.
And stress clearly affects the immune system, he says. Stress triggers the release of
inflammatory particles, called cytokines
and histamines, that fight off infection but
also cause miserable cold symptoms.
About one-fourth of adults who are
infected with a cold virus don’t develop
symptoms, and they have low levels of these
inflammatory molecules, says Jack Gwaltney,
an infectious-disease expert at the
University of Virginia School of Medicine.
Cohen is studying whether positive emotions affect release of these cytokines, per-
haps easing symptoms.
In Stone’s studies, adults got sick three to
five days after their roughest days. Animal
research may explain why people often get
through acute stress but fall ill afterward,
says Esther Sternberg, who directs the
Integrative Neural-Immune Program at the
National Institute of Mental Health.
Stress unleashes adrenaline-like hormones first, which stimulates the immune
system. Then cortisol is released; this hormone battles inflammation but weakens
immunity.
“For a while both hormones are going
full-steam ahead,” Sternberg says. When
the stress ends, the adrenaline hormones
shut down first, leaving hormones that suppress immunity to hang around alone, “and
in these few days illness may take hold.”
Conflict as a culprit
Miserable marriages can weaken the
immune system and promote colds, adds
psychologist Janice Kiecolt-Glaser of Ohio
State University. In her study, newlyweds
who used putdowns and sarcasm in their
exchanges had more respiratory infections
and poorer immune function in the first
three years of marriage; wives were hit particularly hard.
“It’s not always easy to get out of stressful situations,” Cohen says. “But it’s clear
that jobs and marriages with constant conflict are not good for your health. Not everyone is a positive person, but we all should
try to be this way more.”
In the face of stress, “try to pace yourself,”
Sternberg says. “If you’ve been through an
unusual challenge, take it easy for a while.”
That’s especially important as people age
because the immune system isn’t as strong.
“We need to respect the limits of our bodies.”
AS SEEN IN USA TODAY MONEY SECTION, TUESDAY, JULY 29, 2003, PAGE 1B
Rising job stress could affect bottom line
By Stephanie Armour
USA TODAY
Impact of stress
Mounting stress in the workplace is reaching burnout levels for some as more workers report feeling unable to keep up with
the demands of their jobs.
The rise in stress — driven by mounting
unemployment, leaner workplaces and a
jobless recovery — could pose a bottomline threat to companies as workers suffer
more mental and physical health problems
related to job pressure, experts say.
Chicago-based employee assistance
provider ComPsych experienced a 23%
increase in crisis- and stress-counseling
requests from client companies in the first
quarter of 2003 compared with the first
quarter of 2002. Nearly 30% were because
of worker anxiety and terminations.
Nearly 35% of workers say they’ve seen
an increase in anxiety and stress-related
physical ailments in their workplace in
the last year, according to a May survey
by The Marlin Co., a North Haven, Conn.based workplace communications firm.
Work one to four days per year
when too stressed to be effective
44%
No impact on effectiveness
37%
Work more than six days per year
when too stressed to be effective
19%
Coping strategies for stress
Take frequent Work harder 23%
breaks
Take a day off
9%
68%
Source: ComPsych StressPulse survey of 500
clients between March 27 and April 16
tional problems such as insomnia and
depression. The impact:
uStress-busting corporate programs.
Companies are trying to help workers cope
with job-related tension. At AstraZeneca,
a Wilmington, Del.-based pharmaceutical
company, a form of meditation called Qi
Gong has been introduced. Classes take place
at regular department meetings, including
a pre-meeting meditation and — instead
of a coffee break — there is an afternoon
energy break with Qi Gong and tea.
One reason for the attention: Humanresources experts say employees exposed
to stresses such as layoffs are more likely to
engage in violent behavior.
uMounting health care costs.Employees
who worry about losing their jobs were less
safety motivated and had more injuries,
according to a study of 237 food-processing
plant employees by psychologists at
Washington State University-Vancouver.
By Robert W. Ahrens, USA TODAY
Twenty-seven percent report a rise in emo-
A survey through the University of
Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls of more than
2,000 workers found ongoing work stress
Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.
Page 5
and long hours had a negative effect on physical and mental health.
After Steve Braman put his company,
Sunshine Farms Poultry, into Chapter 11
bankruptcy protection in 2001, he suffered
a blood clot and heart trouble.
“It was all stress related. I went from being
content financially to selling my home,” says
Braman, who now works as a food broker
in Stuart, Fla. “It was more stressful than
when I was on Wall Street trading.”
which has a tremendous impact on how
hard (employees) work,” says Carol
Kauffman, a psychologist and instructor
at Harvard Medical School. “They work more
but less effectively.”
uLowered morale. “It surfaces in morale,
AS SEEN IN USA TODAY NEWS SECTION, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2003, PAGE 15A
Catnap is best way to stretch your day
By Al Neuharth
USA TODAY Founder
If you ever sleep on the job, or even during a work break, chances are the boss is
out to get you.
A study due to be released on Dec. 1 will
show that more than half of employers
now suspend or reprimand employees
who catch a wink at work, even if they're
on a break. The survey among 532 companies by Circadian Technologies of
Massachusetts reveals this sharply increasing number getting tough on nappers:
u2003 — 52%
u2002 — 38%
u2000 — 32%
The strict new company policies fly in the
face of a Harvard University study in 2002
that concluded that a midday nap can
sharply increase performance.
Before the economic downturn caused
a lot of bosses to go bananas on cost-cutting, many companies actually provided
so-called “POWERNAP” rooms for midday breaks. Now, some of those have
been turned into coffee rooms to keep
employees awake.
If you think naps are just for babies or
kids, you're wrong. I've stretched my days
with a catnap or two for nearly 50 years.
They work.
In my 30s and 40s, when I was climbing the career ladder, the nap often was just
five or 10 minutes during lunchtime.
Sometimes on a chair or bench. Sometimes
in my car.
In my 50s and 60s, when I headed
Gannett and USA TODAY, the pressure was
greater but the catnapping easier. Frequently,
I double-dipped, with a 15- or 20-minute
nap on a sofa in my office after lunch and
another after an early dinner.
Result: My workdays at the office often
ran 15 hours or longer. Some thought I never
slept, but most co-workers knew I did it
with catnaps. I urged others to do the same.
Bosses who don't understand that a
little catnap can make employees feel
better and work better aren't smart enough
to be the boss.
Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.
Page 6
For Discussion
1. Have the media and public figures “glamorized” immense amounts of work, and consequently, living with large
amounts of stress?
2. With new research on the benefits of short rest periods at the workplace, should companies initiate “catnap” times
and other ways to “de-stress” on the job?
3. Should the United States start to move toward a more European work style and formally place a “cap” on the
amount of hours Americans work each week?
Future Implications
While many concerns remain with the growing issue of stress in the workforce and its adverse health effects, positive
changes are being implemented. In 2003, the Senate passed a resolution designating the month of October as National
Work and Family Month, progress that likely will force this conflict onto a national stage and will become an issue that
presidential candidates may have to undertake. Senator Joseph Lieberman, seeking the Democratic nomination,
recently suggested a paid vacation family leave plan. Additionally, new regulations require medical residency programs
to limit their residents to 80 hours per week. Although these new laws and regulations show improvement toward a
less stressed, healthier world, true progress will not be achieved until stress in the workplace is dramatically reduced.
Whether it be a “cap” placed on the amount of hours employees can work or simply more ways to “de-stress” in the
workplace (such as more breaks and “catnap” times), something must be done to combat this issue. Americans are
getting increasingly stressed and continually sicker, and until the government and medical professionals formally
recognize this serious concern facing our society, Americans’ daily cup of coffee will be replaced by their daily dosage
of cough syrup.
Additional Resources
Burmark, Lynell & Fournier, Lou. Enlighten Up! An Educational Guide to Stress-Free Living. (2003)
Rouse, James. Health Solutions for Stress. (2003)
O'Donnell, Michael P. Health Promotion in the Workplace. (2002)
Berman, Carol. Overcoming Stress in the Workplace. (2000)
Kompier, Michiel. Preventing Stress, Improving Productivity: European Case Studies in the Workplace. (1999)
Manning, George. Stress: Living and Working in the Changing World. (1999)
For more information, log on to www.usatodaycollege.com
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