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Is your spouse ruining your career?From CareerBuilder.com CNN.com has a business partnership with CareerBuilder.com, which serves as the exclusive provider of job listings and services to CNN.com. Marie worked for a national engineering firm and remembers one engineer whose wife called him at the office incessantly for the littlest things. "He was always leaving the office and running home to help with some 'emergency,' and once told me he felt like he couldn't do his job anymore because of it. It was very wearing on him." Sound familiar? Does your spouse refuse to pick up and move one more time, promotion or no promotion? Is your wife the life of the company holiday party, much to your chagrin? Does your husband refuse to help out around the house so you can concentrate on your MBA? A spouse can be very important to your image and career. Your mate can either be a willing partner in your success and a positive reflection on you, or could keep you from achieving the career heights you aspire towards. If the latter describes your domestic situation, it may be time to examine your life, your career and your relationship. Career interrupted?Here are some tips on addressing you partner's inappropriate behavior in the workplace: 1. Overindulgent partier: Does your partner don the proverbial lampshade at every company outing? Then it's time to pull him aside and let him know his antics are out of line. Guzzling "upside-down margaritas" may have been impressive in the frat, but in business it just makes you both look like buffoons. 2. Constant caller: Her lightning-fast calls to the office put speed dial to shame. Inform her that your company has a policy limiting personal phone calls (most companies do) and her hounding phone calls could get you fired. 3. Chicken Little: He is forever cooking up emergencies at home to get you to ditch that client dinner or shorten you business trips. Remind him that his role at home is an important part of your job as well and that without it, your family would not be able to succeed. Get to the root of the problemQuite often, many mates' antics are just a way of acting out their frustration or may be desperate attempts to secure your attention. It's important for you to sit down with your spouse or partner and talk about the goals you have for yourselves and your family and what it's going to take to get there. You need to work on your relationship like you work on your career to head off any problems between the two: Sometimes professional help is neededIf the problem persists, Sue Murphy, Association Manager for the National Human Resources Association, says the employee may want to contact the company's Employee Assistance Program, where counselors can address the spouse's issues and behavior. Today, more than 80 percent of Fortune's Top 500 have an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) in place, according to Katie Borkowski, professional services director of the Employee Assistance Professionals Association. While sometimes it just takes a neutral third party to help you talk things out, some partner problems require more than counseling. In the case of the engineer, his wife eventually entered a mental health facility to deal with her issues. If your company doesn't have an EAP, often mental health services are often covered under medical insurance plans. © Copyright CareerBuilder.com 2005. All rights reserved. The information contained in this article may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority
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