Absenteeism is low. Barry Conway, 41, an Internet training and development manager, does not seem the type to waft about on an aromatherapy cloud. But thanks to his twice-weekly sessions, he now no longer gets the headaches that used to trouble him. Growing numbers of well-established companies have now adopted a holistic approach to their employees' wellbeing. At Unipart International, an automotive parts and accessories company based in Cowley, Oxford, there is a "health and wellbeing centre" where employees can benefit from a range of alternative therapies including reflexology and aromatherapy. New legislation places a "duty of care" on companies to protect their workers from health and safety hazards, and that includes stress. A court ruling earlier this month awarded a council housing officer, Beverley Lancaster, pounds 67,000 for workplace stress. Now Unison, the public sector union which represented her, has other cases in the pipeline.

Statistics from Bristol University show that at least one in five of us now suffers from measurable stress at work, caused by long hours and lack of support. Stressed? If you're an employee, you probably are And if you're an employer, you definitely should be. We have spoken to someone who acts for Slaven, but that's as far as it goes We are still a little way from a deal.". Redknapp said: "The situation has not progressed any further as yet. The likely pounds 1m deal has been put on hold until the Hammers return from their weekend Intertoto Cup game with Jokerit in Finland.Bilic is believed to have returned to Croatia because of a family problem, so until the West Ham manager, Harry Redknapp, and the player are back in England next week the move is stalled. The 23-year-old midfielder, who has signed a four-year contract, will travel to Sweden tomorrow to join up with the squad.

He will in part compensate for the loss of Kieron Dyer, who was sold to Newcastle for pounds 6m.Slaven Bilic's escape from Everton back to West Ham will not happen until next week at the earliest. DAVID PLATT has persuaded Riccardo Scimeca, the Aston Villa centre- half, to become his first major signing at Nottingham Forest in a pounds 3m deal. The former England Under-21 defender has opted to drop into the First Division even though he only recently signed a new contract at Villa and pledged his loyalty to the club. Platt had also hoped to sign the midfielder Jermaine Wright from Crewe, but he chose to join Ipswich in a pounds 500,000 transfer. Gregory is with Villa in New York to take part in a four-team pre-season tournament, but he insisted that negotiations aimed at landing the pounds 6m Keane before the Premiership kicks off on 7 August will continue in his absence.Gregory said: "We are very happy with the way things are going forward on that score.".

We have spoken to someone who acts for Slaven, but that's as far as it goes. We are still a little way from a deal." Bilic could go for pounds 1m, although Redknapp is pushing for a free transfer in his attempt to re-sign the player he sold to Goodison Park for pounds 4.5m two years ago.The Aston Villa manager, John Gregory, is confident that he will soon add Wolverhampton Wanderers' striker Robbie Keane to his list of summer signings. The likely pounds 1m deal has been put on hold until the Hammers return from their weekend Intertoto Cup game with Jokerit in Finland. Bilic is believed to have returned to Croatia because of a family problem, so until the West Ham manager, Harry Redknapp, and the player are back in England next week the move is stalled. Redknapp said: "The situation has not progressed any further as yet. SLAVEN BILIC'S escape from Everton back to West Ham will not happen until next week at the earliest. "We hope that when our ticketing proposals for the World Cup in 2006 are published in a few weeks' time they will be well received by fans at home and abroad.".

The authorities have got no teeth whatsoever."After more than two-thirds of the World Cup tickets last year were sold to the French public, England's 2006 World Cup bid organisers are hopeful of avoiding the same ticket pitfalls and controversy as the situation that arose at France 98The director of the England 2006 World Cup campaign, Alec McGivan, said that the ticket allocations formed a very important part of the English bid which will be submitted soon."Ticketing is obviously an emotive issue," McGivan said. The fine should have reflected the anger expressed by those in football at the arrangements."It put public safety at risk. All the organisers were doing was cynically stoking up the black market and it is a wonder that there were no major problems with safety."Mellor's comments follow those of the Sports Minister Tony Banks, who criticised the fine and said that it "likely to invite ridicule".The Football Supporters' Association spokesman David Blatt also called the action "derisory" and said the fine ended up being less than some fans paid for a single ticket on the black market to watch their country play in France.He said: "What signals does it send out when you've got tour operators making millions off the back of organised packages - what is pounds 650 when they make millions? It's got to be a joke."They say they've set a precedent but I dispute that It basically says anybody can rip off the fans. Mellor is angry that the pounds 650 fine - for operating a ticket sales scheme that discriminated against fans from other countries - was so tiny when the EU could legally have made it millions. "It's derisory when you think that they had the power to fine the organisers 10 per cent of the total ticket sales," said Mellor "That could have been as much as pounds 10 million. DAVID MELLOR, the head of the Government's Football Task Force, yesterday slammed the European Union's "derisory" action against the organisers of last year's World Cup in France. A victory that will be made even sweeter should Stewart contribute as well.ENGLAND (from): M A Butcher (Surrey), A J Stewart (Surrey), N Hussain (Essex, capt), G P Thorpe (Surrey), M A Ramprakash (Middlesex), A Habib (Leicestershire), C M W Read (Nottinghamshire, wkt), A J Tudor (Surrey), A R Caddick (Somerset), A D Mullally (Leicestershire), P C R Tufnell (Middlesex), D W Headley (Kent).NEW ZEALAND (from): R G Twose, M J Horne, S P Fleming (capt), N J Astle, C D McMillan, C L Cairns, A C Parore (wkt), D J Nash, D L Vettori, G I Allott, M D Bell, C Z Harris.Umpires: R Koertzen (RSA) and M Kitchen (Eng).3rd Umpire: K Palmer (Eng).Match referee: P Van der Merwe (SA)..