We seem to focus quite a bit these days on businesses that provide benefits and perks to mothers and fathers. Companies that are empathetic to the needs of parents and provide a working environment that helps them balance family and career are repeatedly rated as some of the best companies to work for. What about childless couples though? Are you missing out on these work-life benefits because you don’t have kids?

Every Friday we round up the salary trends, career stories and job news that you may have missed during the past week.

When a student decides to pursue a degree in English and/or Humanities, the initial reaction that most people have is, “Well, what will you be doing with that degree?” The question comes because unless you plan on being a teacher, the assumption is that the degree won’t translate into a career the way that a more specialized degree such as engineering, business, or computer sciences might after graduation. Of course, there is also the question of return of your investment after you have your degree. Will majoring in English and/or Humanities give you the best return on your investment financially?

Job satisfaction is something every employee wants, but few are lucky enough to experience during their careers. Long work days, stressful commutes, demanding deadlines, and stagnant salaries combine to make work seem ... well, like work. The good news, according to the Quora community, is that it's very possible for employees to find satisfaction at the office, and it comes in the form of attractive company perks. Let's take a look at the top five perks that Quora members deemed most appealing to the everyday employee.

Your company might have a lot going for it, but for some reason you can't keep hold of your managers. They just aren't sticking around for very long, and you have no idea why the turnover is so high. Cheri Baker of The Enlightened Manager Blog says the answer is quite simple: good managers want to be able to do their jobs, and they want to be able to do it well.

At some companies, the dress code is, essentially, "Please be dressed when you come in to code." At others, well, the only way you can tell you're not on the set of "Mad Men" is that everyone has a computer. This causes quite a bit of debate during the summer months, when the usual business attire starts to look less like a charming nod to the past and more like punishment. For working women, the real question is, "Do we still have to wear pantyhose when it's 80 degrees outside?"

“Keep your tools clean” was the sage advice an experienced contractor offered me early in my working life. The realization that you can only go as far as your tools will allow was the take-home and is apparently an idea Cincinnati Bengals linebacker James Harrison embraces – the $600,000 he spends annually to care for his body serving as testament.

Unemployment insurance is the social safety net that allows workers and families to survive job scarcity in a volatile economy. Know the laws in your state.

When you lose on a TV game show, all you give up is a little bit of dignity. But when you lose on Fox's new reality series Does Someone Have to Go, the next stop is the unemployment line. To make matters worse, the pink slip doesn't come from the boss, it comes from the co-workers. Think a group of grown adults can make a rational business decision without it turning into a popularity contest? No way and that's why Fox thinks they have a hit on their hands.

Every spring, alongside the finance folks and engineers, an entire crop of graduates flood the workforce armed with nothing but a degree that appears to be worth less than a place mat at the fast food restaurant where they are unqualified to work. So what do you do when your degree doesn't automatically qualify you for a career track? Brand yourself better.

You might think that your hardest, most dedicated workers are the ones who need the least management intervention to stay motivated, but according to a new study out of Florida State University, that's not the case. Workaholics can actually burn out, become frustrated with their workload or even grow resentful of coworkers.

Taking command of a starship is a lot like running a company. You have to have a vision, a team to help you get the job done, and you have to make tough decisions with your head and not your heart. Feeling a little shaky in the Captain's chair? Here are a few leadership lessons from Star Trek that will help you through tough times.

Virtual communication has become a normal part of every job, with so many moving toward careers that involve working from home. Because of this, it's much harder to get everyone into one office to host a meeting, so the next best thing is to host online meetings. However, just like any in-person meeting, these can quickly become huge time-wasters if managed improperly. These tips will help you to learn how to host effective online meetings.

The folks at both Forbes and the New York Times seem to think so, and who are we to question their wisdom? Especially when there is actual science, not just wishful thinking, to back up their claims.

Managers hire people to fix problems, not complain about them. Employees who are prepared to offer possible solutions are considered highly valuable. These problem-solvers are the ones who keep their jobs in a tight economy. They're also the workers who are offered merit raises, and, eventually, promoted.

Medical issues aside, it has become pretty clear that maintaining a healthy weight involves healthy eating and exercise. There is another element however, that may be contributing to our weight issues and you may be surprised to find out what it is.

It looks like employees in the state of Washington have one less thing to worry about when it comes to personal privacy in the workplace. Just one month after a last-minute amendment to the Cyber Information Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) was defeated in the House of Representatives, Washington has now become the fifth state this year to make it illegal for employers to request social media passwords from staff and interviewees.

PayScale just released the newest feature of our College ROI Report, a breakdown of which colleges provide the best ROI for specific families of majors. Now you can see which schools provide the best return on investment specifically for students who major in English and the Humanities, Business, Engineering, Computer Science and Political Science.

A clerical error posed an ethical issue for San Francisco Giants pitcher, Jeremy Affeldt. The lefty reliever was handed an extra half-million dollars that shouldn’t have been included in his contract and -- despite it being deemed fully legal to keep -- Affeldt opted to sleep at night and gave the money back.

The cost of college is at an all-time high, thus making the decision to attend (and the ability to afford) college a daunting one. With the "recovering" economy, soaring unemployment rates, and the terrible job market, adding school loan payments to the mix seems risky. Is earning (or having) a degree financially worth it in this day and age? Let's look at some recent data to find out.