Professional News

UK Celebrates National Work and Family Month

2019 Employee Appreciation Day.
2019 Employee Appreciation Day. Mark Cornelison | UK Photo.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 12, 2021) — The challenges of the past year and a half have demonstrated the importance of successful work-life integration. October is National Work and Family Month, a time to reconnect with the ways University of Kentucky supports employees on their journey to find work-life harmony. 

UK Human Resources Work-Life is available year-round to work with employees looking for ways to manage their work and personal responsibilities. This month, however, is a great opportunity to engage with us and discover which of our offerings may fit an employee’s unique situation. 

“Families continue to deal with the impact of the pandemic on everyday life,” said Azetta Beatty, HR Work-Life manager. “Employees are doing the best they can as they try to move forward in an uncertain time while maintaining some sort of self-care. We encourage employees to take it one day at a time, but be intentional as you seek out self-care options that can rejuvenate and revive you.” 

HR Work-Life will offer an online workshop series to help with the self-care journey, at noon every Thursday in October: 

Employees can also join in any of our regular monthly programming for working parentselder caregiving and mental health topics. A full list of HR events is available here. 

HR’s other well-being areas also offer great information for managing work and family responsibilities: 

As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.   

In 2022, UK was ranked by Forbes as one of the “Best Employers for New Grads” and named a “Diversity Champion” by INSIGHT into Diversity, a testament to our commitment to advance Kentucky and create a community of belonging for everyone. While our mission looks different in many ways than it did in 1865, the vision of service to our Commonwealth and the world remains the same. We are the University for Kentucky.