Managements responsibilities to employees can be minimally discharged bymeeting the legal requirements that relate to employee-employer relationships. Suchlaws address issues associated with safety， health issues， wage and hour provisions，and the like. In addition to these responsibilities， the modern corporate practice ofproviding fringe benefits——retirement funds， health and hospitalization insurance，and accident insurance——has extended the range of socially obligated activity.
A company may assume other socially responsible activities， such as providingcomprehensive employee training， career development and counseling， andestablishing employee assistance programs （EAPs）6 to help employees. In 1991，three-fourths of all Fortune 500 companies had EAPs.
More companies are realizing that employees are experiencing greaterdifficulties in meeting the responsibilities of job and family. The growing incidenceof two-career couples with children and the longer life span of the elderly mean thatmore employees need assistance in caring for their children and aging parents.Companies are responding in several ways. One of the tools used by firms isflextime7. The concept of flextime refers to a variety of flexible arrangementsincluding unconventional hours， job sharing， leaves of absence， and working athome. From a companys perspective， allowing employees to work fewer and morepliable hours is a powerful way to attract and retain top-caliber people.
These efforts are socially reactive in nature if they are responses to pressuresfrom employees or external parties. The efforts are socially responsive if theorganization proactively initiates these activities in the absence of any substantialpressure. Note， however， that like many socially responsible actions， activitiesundertaken in the interest of employees also benefit the organization. For example，several companies that have proactively established day care centers reportsubstantial improvement in attendance and productivity among participatingemployees.
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