The recently enacted public employee drug testing policy in Kansas is utilized as a basis to speculate on the future of drug screening in education and to offer guidelines to public school districts considering implementation of voluntary or required testing. (MLF)

Survey responses from 520 municipal chief administrative officers (54%) indicate that municipalities are poorly prepared to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act regarding HIV/AIDS. The public workplace provides little protection in terms of reasonable accommodation for employees or job applicants with HIV/AIDS. (SK)

Research is presented that suggests three possible factors that hinder the career mobility of deaf federal employees: communication problems, lack of comparable education, and unawareness of appropriate behavior. Practical steps that employees may take to improve their situation are outlined. (Author/JDD)

Case studies of six high-level federal government administrators examined their political skills, management/leadership abilities, technical expertise, and personality. Among the ingredients of effective performance were good planning, organizational communication, goal orientation, good interpersonal skills, honesty, and high ethical standards.…

The New York State Division of Budget uses a decentralized system to assess promotion candidates by comparing their training, experience, and recent performance to the proposed position. Managers and candidates find the system more effective than traditional written/oral exams. (SK)

A comparison of earnings, education, mobility, interactions with subordinates and supervisors, job satisfaction, promotion, and turnover of men and women in middle-management federal civil service found that women have more problems with supervisors, are overall as satisfied with their treatment as men are, but are more likely to say they lost a…

Over 60% of 533 local government units responding (of 1,215) employ workers lacking basic skills, which impedes mobility and affects customer service. About 26% cope by providing basic skill training or making accommodations for lack of language or computational skills. (SK)

As the largest single employer in Los Angeles County and the largest county government in the nation, Los Angles County is heavily affected by demographic and workplace trends. Its unique diverse, multilingual population presents particular challenges in the preparation of a literate work force. (SK)

Examines what might occur when staff members change positions and offers suggestions for the "alien" venturing into unfamiliar territory. Discusses ways in which an alien may trespass: inappropriate enthusiasm for the new place; failure to fit into the system; inappropriate comparisons; failure to define success; failure to deal with failing; and…

Notes that practice of geriatrics frequently involves interdisciplinary team and that behavior of team members exists on functional continuum, from adaptive to maladaptive. Sees danger of team members with maladaptive behavior, and persons colluding with this behavior, negatively influencing care. Categorizes common maladaptive behavior patterns…

A survey of more than 725 federal, state, and local government agencies received a 30 percent response indicating that 52 percent provide preretirement education (considerably less than the private sector); public agencies emphasize financial more than psychosocial or physical issues; and public sector programs make little postretirement contact…

Critiques Annual Staff Reports, personnel evaluations in the British Civil Service. Considers the implications of management by objectives and staff evaluation practices in the National Health Service and universities for Civil Service evaluations. (SK)

Examined role of organizational hierarchy and staff status in number of Employee Assistance Program (EAP) referrals made by potential helpers and relationship of these variables to personal EAP use among 157 supervisors and 232 employees. Supervisors suggested more EAP referrals than did employees. Middle level staff received EAP services more…

Action for Better Lewisham Employees is a British project designed to improve the current and future employability of public-sector employees. Those with the least job mobility are often the least aware of their transferable skills, which the program develops. (SK)

Developed a measure of employee identification with the work group through content analysis, exploratory factor analysis of responses of 140 employees, and confirmatory analyses of responses of 309 employees. Exploratory and confirmatory factor scores support the factor structure of the developed measure and scale scores show acceptable internal…