Wage Growth Starts Slowly in 1999
After three years of big gains in U.S. employees' wages, early reports for 1999 show sluggish paycheck growth. In the first three months of the year, workers' pay jumped only 0.4 percent. Most analysts are puzzled by the new figures and expect wage growth numbers to increase by the end of the year.

Employee Stock Plans Boost Performance
A new study has found that having an employee stock plan improves a company's earnings -- not just worker morale. After setting up a stock plan, a company's average annual return on stock jumped 6.9 percent. Researchers speculate that employees who take part in stock plans get more information about how the firm is actually doing, improving their ability to make helpful decisions.

Squealing Made Easy
A new Web site called pleaseSTOP.com offers employees the chance to report their coworkers for misbehavior ranging from embezzlement to drug abuse. Employers pay to have a link to pleaseSTOP.com placed on their company's intranet. The offending coworkers receive a tactfully worded letter informing them that they've been turned in.

Employers Must Cover Infertility Treatment
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has ruled that federal disability laws require an employer's insurance plan to pay for infertility treatment. Some insurance companies have balked at paying for the expensive procedures. Seventy-five percent of people with infertility problems don't have coverage, advocates say.