University earns top work-life employer award

For the third consecutive year, the University of Calgary has been awarded the WorldatWork Alliance for WorkLife Progress (AWLP) Seal of Distinction. The WorldatWork award recognizes diverse employers across North America that demonstrate innovative leadership in workforce engagement and provide programs to enrich the lives of employees. The university is the only U15 (Canada’s group of research universities) recipient of this award.

“We are honoured to be listed alongside top employers from all industries who are committed to providing resources to support the well-being of employees,” says Marcia Buchholz, associate vice-president (human resources). “Earning this achievement is a testament to the hard work of our university community to provide programs for faculty and staff related to mental health, physical health and overall well-being.”

WorldatWork recognized the university for progress in the following focus areas:

• Raising awareness and promoting well-being
• Developing personal resilience and self-management
• Enhancing early identification and response
• Creating and sustaining a supportive campus environment

As a 2017 seal recipient, the university is praised for its work-life programs, policies and practices including dependent care, health and wellness, workplace flexibility, financial support and education, paid and unpaid time off, community involvement, and workforce experience/engagement. The AWLP Seal of Distinction assesses these seven work-life categories as indicators of an industry-leading work-life portfolio.

As outlined in the Campus Mental Health Strategy, the university is committed to continuously evaluating our performance in providing support to employees using rigorous metrics that are aligned with emerging national standards. This includes our recent bronze-level certification for workplace mental health and the university’s commitment to implementing the National Standard of Canada for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace.

The WellBeing and WorkLife portfolio engages employees in managing their work and personal lives to achieve and maintain overall well-being. The university offers a number of programs and services that promote healthy living, a healthy work environment and that respect the employee's life outside of work as well as their working life. Resources available to faculty and staff include flexible spending accounts, childcare resources, smoking cessation, health checks and UFlourish Week.

Learn more about programs offered by the WellBeing and WorkLife portfolio including the Working Mind, the Lunch and Learn Series, Wellness Advocate Program and our Employee and Family Assistance Plan provider Homewood Health.

The university is one of 160 seal recipients for 2017.