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Duke Honored as a Top Family-Friendly Workplace

Carolina Parent magazine recognizes Duke among 50 top employers 

Carolina Parent has included Duke University and Duke University Health System as one of the top family-friendly workplaces in North Carolina.

The parenting media resource group will publish its 14th annual family-friendly list in its September monthly magazine, which has a circulation of 44,000 whose readers are parents of children ages 18 and younger in the Triangle. The list identifies the top 50 North Carolina employers that promote work-life balance through various benefits and policies. 

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Kyle Cavanaugh, vice president for administration, said that Duke is proud to have maintained its position on the magazine's list of family friendly workplaces for 11 consecutive years. 

"Our commitment to our employees and their families has been steadfast," Cavanaugh said. "It is an enduring and evolving effort to offer creative solutions to help employees navigate lives that have many dimensions."

Duke was recognized this year for a range of family-friendly practices from extensive childcare support and leave policies to flex time and elder care resources and referrals. "It is a well rounded package that includes not only family-friendly policies and benefits, but also support for managers and supervisors on how to help promote work life balance," said Crickett Gibbons, editor of Carolina Parent. 

A highly visible example of family-friendly policies at Duke is the expected opening of The Little School at Duke in September. The facility will offer childcare to 159 children of Duke faculty, staff and graduate students, more than doubling Duke's onsite childcare capacity. 

"The addition of The Little School at Duke is a big step forward in meeting the demand for high quality child care for our workforce," Cavanaugh said. 

In addition to The Little School, Duke maintains the Duke Child Care Partnership, offering priority placement to children of Duke faculty, staff and students at 39 local day care centers. 

Other family-friendly benefits at Duke include life insurance, education assistance, family/marital counseling at no cost through Duke's Personal Assistance Service and competitive health, dental and vision insurance for employees and their dependents. Duke also extends same-sex partner benefits to faculty and staff. 

"The more resources we can offer employees to reduce worries about their families, the more effective they can be at home and at work," said Denise Evans, executive director of Duke Staff and Labor Relations and Duke's Staff and Family Programs.

In addition to traditional benefits, Duke offers other amenities such as free public bus passes, employee discounts at local restaurants and businesses and lactation rooms for nursing mothers. 

"Coming back to work after my maternity leave was the hardest thing I've ever done," said Diane Masters, grants manager for the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences. "But I came back to absolute full support from Duke and my supervisor, including the opportunity to use a bright, beautiful lactation room in my building."

Each year, the Carolina Parenting publishing company accepts reader nominations for family-friendly workplaces and surveys these organizations to determine policies and practices offered. The Kenan-Flagler Business School at UNC-Chapel Hill reviews results and chooses employers for the list.

With more than 34,000 faculty and staff, Duke is the largest private employer in the Triangle, and the second largest in the state (after Wal-Mart).