Fourteen major US companies last year created policy or expanded provisions for paid family leave, covering about 2.4 million workers, but a report from Paid Leave for the United States found progress has been uneven. The report said industry sectors such as finance and technology are more likely to offer paid time off to care for a newborn than health care and retail, and women and low-income workers account for a disproportionate share of jobs that have little or no time off.

The Eden Prairie Police Department in Minnesota has developed what Police Chief Greg Weber calls a "check-up from the neck up," program focused on employees' emotional well-being. It includes having all staff, sworn and civilian, meet with a mental health professional annually.

A bill introduced in South Dakota would allow for workers' compensation benefits for post-traumatic stress disorder arising from employment as a first responder. The state is one of at least seven where such legislation was filed in January, and insurance industry experts say more bills of this type are likely to emerge.

Traditional corporate organization and hierarchy can stifle business transformation by creating silos and discouraging important conversations and information-sharing, says Harvard Business School professor Michael Beer. One alternative approach is to create "a disciplined and repeatable route toward honest conversations to transform their companies into high-quality systems of organizing, managing and leading," he says.