Cornell is proud to be a family-friendly workplace.
Cornell is committed to supporting members of our community who are parents, caregivers, and those who hope to grow their families in the future. We recognize that parenting and caregiving come with unique experiences and needs, including support for finding child care, navigating adoption, accessing perinatal care, lactation and pumping at work, supporting LGBTQ+ families, caring for family members with special needs, and more.
We also acknowledge the important role people leaders play in shaping the workplace experience for employees who are parents and caregivers, and we are committed to providing guidance and resources to support those in leadership roles as well.
Preparing for Baby Series: Sessions are free and open to all in the Cornell community. Topics include perinatal resources, healthy pregnancy, labor and delivery, perinatal mental health and successful infant feeding and return to work. The zoom sessions are typically offered each semester. For more information, reach out to worklife@cornell.edu.
Paid Prenatal Leave at Cornell: All employees in NYS are entitled to 20 hours of Paid Prenatal Leave per year. This benefit applies to full-time, part-time and student employees, and there is no minimum work requirement to be eligible.
Pregnancy Related Work and Learning Accommodation: The Cornell Office of Civil Rightsassists Cornell employees and students with pregnancy related workplace accommodations. To learn about your options, email civilrights@cornell.edu.
Lactation Support: Information about breast/chest pump insurance coverage, locations of Lactation Rooms, pumping guidelines for employees and supervisors, and other support resources.
Musculoskeletal Injury Prevention Program (MIPP): Pregnancy can change how a body feels in regular work environments. MIPP can assist with free ergonomic assessments of work spaces, either at an on-site office or a home work environment.
Cornell Reproductive Health Program: Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) professionals can review work areas to evaluate potential chemical, biological, and physical exposures and provide recommendations to ensure potential exposures do not pose a reproductive risk. Employees and students who are pregnant, lactating, or who are contemplating having children may schedule a reproductive health evaluation of their work and research areas.
Adoption
Adoption Assistance Program: Reimburses eligible employees for qualified adoption expenses up to $10,000 per adoption.
Child Care Resources
Work/Life Individual Consultations focused on Child Care: Consultative assistance is available to Cornell staff, faculty, retirees, and students on topics related to child care, such as locating providers, nannies and babysitters, parenting children with special needs, school aged programs and more. Contact the Work/Life Consultant at worklife@cornell.edu for more information.
Cornell Child Care Center: An accredited child care program located on campus to serve Cornell families. To learn more about the program and the waitlist process, call 607-255-1010.
Drop-In Child Care:The center offers highly limited daily drop-in care when the child’s typical care provider is unavailable. Drop-in care can be scheduled up to 30 days in advance and is limited to ten days per calendar year.
Care.com Membership: Locate caregivers for children, aging or disabled adults/elders, pets, home, and more with a free Cornell-sponsored Care.com membership.
Conference Child Care: Contact the Work/Life Consultant at worklife@cornell.edu for tips and resources related to acquiring child care for campus events.
Financial Assistance
Child Care Grant Program: Cornell has committed to helping faculty and staff access quality care by subsidizing its cost.
Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account : This benefit allows employees to set aside and use pre-tax money for child care expenses. .
Faculty Dependent Care Travel Fund: Offers tenure track and tenured faculty up to $1,500 ($2,000 for dependent children with special needs) per academic year in direct expenses for dependent-care expenses incurred while traveling to attend professional meetings, conferences, workshops, and professional development opportunities.
Cornell Children’s Tuition Scholarship: Provides the children of eligible Cornell employees a partial scholarship for study at Cornell or other accredited institutions.
Family Support & Family-Friendly Activities
School Closing e-List (type “join” in the subject line): Receive notification of weather-related or unscheduled school closures.
Life in Ithaca: The Cornell website features links to activities for all ages, including theaters, museums, festivals, science centers, and natural attractions in the Ithaca area.
Insectapalooza: Come see the bizarre, bad, and beneficial of the insect world!
Cornell Homecoming: occurs in the fall of every year, often showcasing a Cornell athletics competition and including live music, laser light show, and more!
Cornell employees can contact Medical Leaves Administration to learn more about their parental leave/accommodation options.
Cornell Graduate Students can reach out to gradstudserv@cornell.edu to learn about their parental accommodation options.
Consultation & Referrals
Flexible Work Consultations: Consultative assistance is available to help employees in considering flexible work options and how to develop a proposal for supervisor review.
Work/Life: Consultative assistance is available to Cornell staff, faculty, retirees, and students on topics related to dependent care, such as locating providers, nannies and babysitters, parenting children with special needs, and more.
Connect at Cornell
Parenting Workshops: Programs offered to assist with tools and strategies related to pregnancy, parenting various ages of children, and life transitions.
Cornell Parent News: Sign up to receive a monthly newsletter about Cornell and community events, workshops, and activities that are parenting-related or family-friendly to attend.
Family Life E-Lists: Subscribe to email lists geared for Cornell parents (current & prospective), nursing parents, LGBT families, families with children with special needs, and more.
New Parent WAG: Join the Workforce Affinity Group for new parents within the Cornell community. This group uses Microsoft Teams Viva Engage to help people virtually connect.
