Duke to Require Food Service Contractors to Meet Standard for Pay, Health Care

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Duke University will require contracted food service vendors to offer full-time employees at least $10 per hour and basic health care coverage similar to what Duke offers its own employees, Tallman Trask III, executive vice president, announced Sunday.

“This new policy provides greater financial support and will offer health care coverage for many individuals who did not have access before,” Trask said. “Many contracted food service employees work on campus and are viewed as a part of the daily operations of Duke, rather than providers of off-site services or project work.”

In 2005, Duke increased the pay for all university employees to at least $10 per hour. Since then, Duke officials have been exploring the option of enhancing pay and basic health care coverage for full-time contracted food service workers. The health care benefits would be comparable to Duke’s basic coverage.

Duke officials will implement the wage provisions of the policy now, as food service contracts are signed or renewed. Providing comparable health coverage could take a little longer due to the complexity of such plans and the multiple vendors on campus, some of which do not currently have health plans, Trask said.

Duke’s announcement continues a long-standing history of community efforts such as a computer donation program for local schools, expansion of affordable housing options in Durham and the opening of the Lyon Park and Walltown Neighborhood Clinics to improve access to health care. (For more information, visit the Duke-Durham Neighborhood Partnership website at http://community.duke.edu/.)

“As Durham’s largest employer, Duke has made concerted efforts to not only expand the support for our own employees, but we’re also committed to working with community leaders to help make Durham a better place to live and work,” Trask said.

Kemel Dawkins, Duke’s vice president for campus services, delivered the announcement Sunday afternoon at a meeting of Durham Congregations/Associations/Neighborhoods (CAN) in Duke’s Griffith Theater.

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