The bottom line

CEO severance packages

At least a dozen executives of companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500 index stand to receive more than $100 million in severance packages if they’re dismissed by their firms.

Businessweek.com

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New procedures for vacation days

A survey by the Society for Human Resource Management found that 9 percent of employers allow workers to cash out their unused vacation time. Five percent of employers also let employees buy extra vacation days through payroll deductions, and 7 percent permit workers to donate unused vacation time to a shared pool that colleagues can use.

Associated Press

Eco-conscious multinationals

Private companies and individuals paid a total of $523 million last year to voluntarily offset 111 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions, according to a report by Ecosystems Marketplace. The money flowed largely from U.S.- and EU-based multinationals to wind farms and tree-planting initiatives.

Yahoo.com

Negotiating job salaries

Job candidates negotiating over salaries should avoid even thousands. A new study from researchers at Columbia Business School found that candidates who initially request a more precise salary generally end up with higher final offers. For example, a job candidate who asks for $63,500 might receive a counteroffer of $62,000, while an applicant who requests $65,000 is more likely to receive a counteroffer of just $60,000.

The Wall Street Journal

Social media savvy employers

In 2012, 37 percent of employers said they checked out job applicants’ social media accounts, including Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and LinkedIn, before deciding whether to hire them.

MarketWatch.com