Vouchers for compact fluorescent light bulbs and rooftop solar panels have taken their place next to health insurance and flextime as popular employee benefits. Young job-seekers want to work for socially responsible, environmentally friendly companies. That’s one reason more companies have begun offering “green” employee benefits.

Replacing employees is costly enough without frittering away your recruiting dollars on advertising that either (1) doesn’t reach the desired candidates, or (2) results in bad hires. Too many employers take a shotgun approach, placing ads on several sites without obtaining data to help make the right choice. To get the best value for your ad dollars, ask job-board sales reps these questions:

Employees of Newark, Del.-based W.L. Gore & Associates are drafting new colleagues—by starring as themselves in videos about the company on a recruiting web site. The maker of GORE-TEX waterproof breathable fabrics and other textile, industrial and medical products enlisted employees for its “Join Gore & Change Your Life” campaign.

More than 400,000 U.S. citizens retire or separate from the military every year—and most of them look for jobs when they do. Companies such as Union Pacific Railroad, GE and Home Depot actively recruit veterans. Your organization could probably benefit from hiring military veterans. To attract them, align your recruiting and employee benefits with their needs.

Employers seeking Internet-savvy candidates have been flocking to social media sites in the past year. But employers (and their lawyers) are discovering a hidden problem in that recruiting-by-Facebook strategy: Depending too much on the sites could leave your organization vulnerable to age and race discrimination lawsuits. Heavy use of social networking sites may skew your job applicant pool to contain few minorities and older people.

Discrimination against employees because of their family caregiving duties has become a hotbed for litigation against employers, and every indication is that this trend will continue. So it’s critical for employers to recognize the potential for liability and take necessary steps to avoid being the next defendant. Here's how.

Ohio fared well in a recent Forbes magazine ranking of how hospitable the nation’s 50 largest cities are to working moms. Cincinnati ranked the nation’s sixth-best metro area for working mothers, while Columbus came in 13th.

With so many companies focused on downsizing to contain costs in a down economy, many employers have failed to prepare for a pending change that will significantly alter workforce demographics. Beginning in 2011, the first of the baby boomers will turn 65. As the rest of the roughly 70 million baby boomers follow, we’ll see a major shift in the age of our society—and our workforces. This shift will have a significant impact on employers.

If you have a robust college-student recruiting program, make sure you consider students from all age groups for your open positions—co-op and internship programs, too. That way, other employees can’t point to your college-student recruiting program as direct evidence of age bias.

Not finding the perfect candidate in your area? Advertise that job in surrounding states. Americans are much agreeable to relocate, according to a new Challenger, Gray & Christmas survey.

It sometimes takes extra money to entice an applicant to jump ship. That’s all part of the hiring dance. But there's a hidden peril that could land you in court—and cost you thousands. Learn the best practices that will help you defend yourself.

Amid layoffs, furloughs, pay cuts and frozen salaries, most organizations are holding onto their work/life benefits during the recession. And some of them are using flextime, telework and other employee favorites as cost-cutting strategies. Here are nine ways your organization can make strategic use of work/life benefits to cut costs, save jobs and pump up employee morale during the recession.

Don’t depend on comprehensive health care reform to significantly cut the cost of the health insurance benefits you provide to employees. Many of America’s best companies have found that a few best practices do a remarkably good job of improving employee health and controlling health care expenses. Here are some of the best practices in health benefits used by America’s best employers.

The metropolitan area encompassing North Carolina suburbs of the Virginia Beach/Norfolk/Hampton Roads region is the most centralized large employment center in the nation, according to a Brookings Institution report titled “Job Sprawl Revisited: The Changing Geography of Metropolitan Employment.”