The company also offers an exercise physiologist to help employees suffering from stress.

Employees who don’t have the energy to prepare meals after a long or difficult workday can take home a prepared meal.

Cigna Insurance Company offers employees the option of placing take-out meal orders with the company chef.

Many companies provide benefits that help employees cope with the stresses and demands of balancing work and nonwork.

SAS provides a free health clinic as well as an eldercare program that helps employees locate nursing care facilities for aging parents.

SAS employs a full-time ergonomics specialist to select office furniture that will reduce physical stress and strain.

At each of its 20 buildings at its 200-acre campus in Raleigh, North Carolina, SAS Institute provides coffee break rooms stocked with free soda, fresh fruit, M&Ms and pastries.

A number of companies use nontraditional benefits and perks to help employees cope with stress.

These illnesses translate into higher benefits costs for the company as employees more frequently use health care benefits.

They also recognize that stress can result in stress-related illnesses, such as high blood pressure, ulcers, and fatigue.