Paying to upgrade buildings to meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards could have an unexpected benefit: lower rates of absenteeism and a host of health problems among employees.

 That's according to results of a recently published study. Over a period of about eight months, researchers from Michigan State University surveyed two groups of employees, about 260 in all, before and after they moved from a conventional office building to a LEED-certified one.  (LEED ratings take into account a slew of factors, from air quality and humidity to ventilation and acoustics). They found that employees reported a significant drop in absenteeism and work hours affected by depression, asthma, respiratory allergies, and stress. Also respondents reported an increase in productivity. 

The percentage of employers offering health benefits has been dropping for years, mainly because small employers can't afford the premiums. And while health reform is supposed to reverse that trend, an analysis by federal actuaries predicts fewer workers will have insurance through an employer as a result of the new law. Still, that's not the whole story.

The number of people with employer insurance will total 164.5 million by 2019 compared to a predicted 165.9 million who would have been insured through an employer had the system not been changed. Employers currently provide 159 million people with health insurance, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

The brouhaha over the hits to earnings from the new health-care law that companies are announcing is much ado about very little.

First of all, the charge is an estimate of future costs and will have no immediate impact on cash flow. And the estimate is unusually large because the accounting rules require costs that would otherwise be reported in the future to be reported now, simply because they are the result of a change in tax treatment.

Two separate surveys released on Wednesday proved one thing: Workers were TERRIFIED of losing their jobs last year.

In fact, they were so scared that the rate of employee absences in 2009 was the lowest recorded since 1985, the year legal and business publisher BNA began its quarterly survey of employers. The median absence rate in 2009 averaged 0.7 percent, falling beneath the 2008 low of 0.9 percent of scheduled worker days per month. Absence rates have declined consistently since 2005, when they averaged 1.5 percent of scheduled worker days. The survey of 267 human resource and employee relations executives also showed that absences tended to be lower in smaller than in larger organizations.

As far as trends in pay for most employees go, looks like we'll see little growth in salaries, with a lot more in variable compensation.  And, at least for accounting professionals, it  might not be such a bad thing.

That, at least, is the implication of two new studies.

Youth in the workplace is a blessing and a curse. There's a fine line between being a go-getter and impetuousness.

The X and Y Generations have a particularly bad reputation for wanting it all now. But, as the Baby Boomers hit retirement age, companies increasingly have to look for its next group of leaders and that means putting some of those fresh faces on a career fast track.

A new CareerBuilder survey of more than 5,200 workers shows that is indeed happening - and that it's not without its problems. Forty-three percent of workers ages 35 and older said they currently work for someone younger than them. And more than half (53 percent) of workers ages 45 and up said they have a boss younger than them, followed by 69 percent of workers ages 55 and up.

Ever suspect that the petty grievances, rivalries and concerns of the Dunder Mifflin employees portrayed on the faux documentary TV show The Office were not too far from reality? Well, to judge from the results of a recent survey of top workplace  annoyances, you'd be right.

Cubicle-land, in fact,  is rife with simmering animosity and resentment over, oh, someone's penchant for leaving dirty silverware in the kitchen sink.

The workplace is a pretty darn unpleasant place to be these days. In case you hadn't noticed.

That, at least, is the conclusion reached by two recent studies.

It's a good bet you're not sleeping that well these days. 

In fact, it's likely few of your employees are, either.  And what's keeping you all up probably has a lot to do with your job, the state of  your company, your finances or all of the above.

If you've noticed that your employees are more tired than usual, it may be because they need a vacation--but are too afraid to take one.

Those are the conclusions of a study from Right Management , a talent and career management consultancy.  According to the survey, 66 percent of employees did not use all their vacation time this year. This, despite the fact that, thanks to cutbacks, employees in many companies are working longer hours under greater stress and, sometimes, for less money than before.