News

 Small Business Month Spotlight: A New Tool to Help You Invest in What Works

Explore Family Forward NC®’s new Paid Family Leave ROI Calculator, designed to help employers make smart, data-driven decisions about paid family leave. May is National Small Business Month, a time to celebrate the entrepreneurs and employers who power North Carolina’s economy and strengthen our communities. At Family Forward NC®, we know that small businesses are not only economic drivers but also essential to the well-being of working families. That’s why we’re proud to introduce a powerful new resource designed with employers in mind: the Family Forward NC® Paid Family Leave ROI Ca…

Family Forward NC® Summit: Employers Pledge Action

More than 100 business leaders from across North Carolina gathered in High Point on March 25 for the Family Forward NC® Summit. The theme – Future-Proof Your Workforce – focused on advancing workplace policies that support employees and their families and deliver a positive return on investment for employers.   Employers said the Summit supported their efforts to adopt family-friendly workplace policies and that they went home with actions and strategies to implement or consider in their workplaces. From Volvo to Highland Brewing Co. to Book Harvest and Elon U…

When Safety and Paychecks Collide

For many survivors of sexual assault, safety, stability, and recovery are tied to their jobs – yet workplace protections remain uneven across North Carolina For the past 25 years, the National Sexual Violence Resource Center has helped lead Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM), uniting survivors, advocates, and communities around a shared goal: ending sexual assault, abuse, and harassment. This anniversary is both a moment to acknowledge progress and a reminder that the work is not yet complete. This year’s theme, “25 Years Stronger: Looking Back, Moving Forward,” captures that dua…

Work That Works for Families

New Benchmarking Report Shows Where North Carolina Employers Are Leading – and Where More Support Is Needed What makes a workplace truly family-friendly? A new report from Family Forward NC® offers one of the clearest pictures yet. Work that Works for Families: Benchmarking Family Forward NC® Certified Employers analyzes the policies and practices of 132 Family Forward NC® Certified Employers across 40 North Carolina counties, alongside nearly 8,000 employee survey responses collected between October 2022 and June 2025. Together, those employers represent 296 business locations…

Biennial Report Shows Small Shifts Are Driving Big Payoffs for North Carolina Workplaces 

Family-friendly workplaces are no longer a nice extra. They are a smart business strategy. Family Forward NC®’s new 2024–2025 Biennial Report, Small Shifts. Big Payoffs. Transforming Workplaces in North Carolina, shows how employers across the state are adopting policies that support working families while strengthening recruitment, retention, productivity, and workplace culture. The report captures a period of major growth for Family Forward NC®.  Since launching its Employer Certification in 2022, the initiative has helped set a statewide standard for family-friendl…

North Carolina Can Lead on Family-Friendly Work — If We Act

💡 “Insufficient child care availability drains $5.65 billion from North Carolina’s economy each year through lost productivity and turnover.”—  Status of Women in North Carolina: Investing in Economic Opportunity (2025) By Lisa Finaldi A new statewide report from the NC Council for Women & Youth Involvement and the Institute for Women’s Policy Research makes one thing clear: when women thrive, North Carolina thrives. The Status of Women in North Carolina: Investing in Economic Opportunity report confirms what families and employers across the state already know: Child care acc…

Safe Leave: The Policy You’ve Probably Never Heard Of—But Every Workplace Needs

When we think about family-friendly workplace policies, we often picture flexible schedules, paid parental leave, or child care stipends. But there’s one life-saving policy most people have never heard of — safe leave. Safe leave is a workplace policy that allows survivors of domestic or sexual violence—or their family members—to take time off for critical needs such as medical care, legal proceedings, or child-related appointments without having to disclose their situation or provide documentation. It may sound simple, but for many survivors, it can mean the difference between dan…

Business Smart: Sandhills Community College Living Up to Its Core Values 

Investing in On-Site Child Care to Support Family Wellness  Number of Employees- 286Location: Southern Pines  Integrity, Helpfulness, Excellence, Respect, and Opportunity. These are the values that drive Sandhills Community College (SCC) in providing quality education and fostering an inclusive environment where students and employees can thrive. As North Carolina’s first comprehensive community college, SCC serves 11,439 learners and offers associate degrees, diplomas, and certificates across a wide range of fields. The college also provides workforce contin…

Best Workplace Practices for Breastfeeding Employees

August is National Breastfeeding Month. It’s a good time for employers to review their workplace policies to ensure that breastfeeding employees are supported and that businesses and organizations have implemented changes in federal law.  By providing lactation accommodations, employers are supporting the health and well-being of both the employee and their child, while gaining a three-to-one return on investment for their business or organization.  We’ve gathered resources from across the country to help your workplace be breastfeeding-friendly.  Learn how…

Greensboro Becomes First Certified Community—Offering a Model for Communities Across the Region

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE RALEIGH, NC — In today’s competitive labor market, 63% of employees say they’d switch jobs for better benefits, and they’re looking for more than just pay. A growing number of North Carolina employers are proving that family-friendly workplace policies are more than a perk. These policies lead to a stronger workforce, healthier children, and more resilient communities. Now, Greensboro shows what’s possible when an entire city embraces that approach. This month, Greensboro became the first city in North Carolina to earn the designation of a Family Forward NC® Cert…

The Power of Prevention

April is both Child Abuse Prevention Month and Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Some of the same supports, programs, services and policies that can keep children safe from maltreatment can also prevent adults from experiencing domestic and sexual violence. Significant risk factors for child abuse, domestic and sexual violence include women’s financial stability, employment stability, and economic and occupational status, as well as poverty among women and children. The impact is often acute stress that can cause conditions such as poor mental health, alcohol and drug abuse, which c…

We’ve Updated our Guide to Family Forward Workplaces

It now includes a new section to guide employers in becoming champions of public policy Family-friendly workplace policies are no longer a perk, they are a necessity. They are proven to attract and retain a talented workforce, increase productivity and support the health and well-being of babies and young children. Since we first published our Guide to Family Forward Workplaces in 2019, the landscape of workplace benefits, especially those that support parents and caregivers, have significantly changed. And there’s much more to do, starting with providing benefits to those working ho…