Banco Popular de Puerto Rico

It’s Earth Week! And regardless of your position on the reality and/or cause of climate change, this week is one set apart for being kinder and gentler to Mother Earth. Some companies best known for making green are taking bigger strides to go green — or, in the case of Kaiser Permanente, go greener.

In a recent company infographic/blog post, “The case for Facebook,” Keas cites survey data that show a group of employees who browsed the web or used social networks for 10 minutes were 16% more productive than employees who took a regular 10-minute break, and 39% more productive than the control group.

Survey results from AMA Enterprise, a division of the American Management Association, finds that as many as two-in-five employees feel they hardly ever know what’s going on at their organization.

Changing physicians' attitudes toward low-value services will mean counteracting a powerful force — the profit motive. Physicians, like most economically rational people, generally tend to recommend tests and treatments that reward physicians financially.

A new study finds that expatriates face a higher overall risk for mental health problems and substance abuse disorders. Specifically, 50% of expatriates in the study were at high risk for problems like anxiety and depression, a rate 2.5 times their U.S.-based counterparts.

According to Glassdoor, for the first time in the four years it has been conducting the employment confidence survey, more employees expect a pay raise than those who do not — 43% of employees expect a raise in the next 12 months while 38% and 19% say they don’t know (but likely harbor secret hope).

We're glad it's over, but EBN's staff truly enjoyed bringing you coverage of the Supreme Court PPACA hearings from our own D.C. backyard, right alongside the national network media. In case you missed anything, here’s a brief wrap-up/rundown of our news and analysis.

Comparing one group’s health claims to another’s is touted as one way to zero in on cost-saving opportunities. The problem, guest blogger Linda K. Riddell notes, is that benchmarking can hide more cost-cutting opportunities than it shows.

The Chamber of Commerce Hiring Our Heroes program reminds employers to take some time to (re)focus their attention on the issue of veteran unemployment, something that — unlike the eventual outcome of this week’s Supreme Court hearings — HR/benefits pros actually have a significant amount of influence over.

According to a new survey from Workplace Options, 92% of young workers say that offering access to the latest technology makes employers more attractive than their competition, and 16% indicated that, regardless of compensation, they would quit their job if they did not have access to the latest tech gear.