Last week, the Society for Human Resource Management and the Families and Work Institute held a conference on the topic in Chicago.

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The 2012 National Study of Employers conducted by Families and Work Institute and the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) painted a less bleak picture related to employers providing information about eldercare services (41% of employers said they did), and time off for employees to provide care without jeopardizing their jobs (75% of employers said they offered it).

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With the number of users booming, human resource experts say an employee airing -- or tweeting -- dirty laundry about work is a company train wreck waiting to happen.

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So I reflected on my own experience and consulted career coaches, human resource pros and psychologists for advice on how to cope when a family crisis affects your work.

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In a 2011 employee benefits survey from the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM), only 35 percent of the almost 600 companies surveyed even offered a compressed work week, and only 13 percent offered job sharing.

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