team support guide.pdf
2026 Team Member Support Guide
November 2025
SUPPORT RESOURCES FOR ALL TEAM MEMBERS
We Invest in Your Well-Being
One of our objectives is to maintain the satisfaction of our team members.
Flexible Time Off
We trust you to use good judgment to take time off as needed so that you can be your best at work. Our CEO sets a good
example by taking regular vacations and encouraging the rest of the team to do the same.
Short Term Medical Leave
We provide up to 8 weeks of short term medical leave. You can use it for recovering from childbirth, physical injury or
mental illness.
Parental Leave
After 1 year at the company, we offer up to 16 weeks paid leave to all new parents (it's 4 weeks within the first 6 months at
the company and 8 weeks at 6-12 months). Birthing parents can combine this with Short Term Medical Leave for up to 24
weeks. And we offer an additional 8 weeks unpaid, if you need more time.
Caregiver Leave
We provide up to 4 weeks of paid caregiver leave, plus additional unpaid leave, if required, to care for an immediate family
member with a serious health condition.
Learning Stipend
To promote your professional development and reinforce our culture of self-directed learning and skill-building, we offer a
Learning Stipend of up to $1,250 USD per year for the following expenses: in-person and online courses and lectures
(including necessary materials), books, and other purchased learning materials, and conference attendance (including
necessary travel expenses).
| Resource | Description |
|---|---|
| Co-working | Should you prefer to work from a co-working space, we reimburse the cost up to $500 USD per month. |
| Computer and Phone | We reimburse the purchase of a computer every 3 years and offset the cost of a phone (up to $500 USD) every 2 years to do your job. |
| Office Setup | To help you get your office set up, we reimburse up to $1,250 USD to cover the purchase of office productivity items, such as a desk, chair, computer monitors, keyboards, etc. In addition, we offer a monthly $100 allowance to offset work-from-home expenses, such as internet and office supplies. |
| Charitable Donation Matching | We match on qualified charitable donations of up to $1,000 per year. |
| Assistance Program | We offer counseling services provided through Workplace Options to help you and your family manage life-stressors (e.g., stress, depression, marital challenges, well-being, etc.) |
| Company Events | We have annual company retreats, team meetups, and optional "work-ations" where you work with colleagues in various destinations around the world. Every quarter we hold 3-day long Hack Days, during which we work on whatever we want. |
| Leadership Coaching Services | We provide reimbursement for leadership coaching for team members in designated leadership roles (e.g., team leads, career advisors, etc.) to develop and support people leadership skills, communication skills, emotional intelligence, and overall leadership effectiveness. Amount reimbursed varies depending on leadership professional level. |
U.S. ONLY
U.K. Employees Only
Scottish Widows - Eligible employees will be automatically enrolled and contribute a minimum 5% of qualifying earnings. The company will contribute an additional required 3% of qualifying earnings.
U.S. Employees Only
Lack of universal healthcare in the U.S. prompted us to offer health coverage for those employees.
Plan Information
| Type | Plan Name |
|---|---|
| Medical* | Independence Blue Cross PPO 500, Independence Blue Cross PPO 1500, Independence Blue Cross HDHP 2000 |
| Dental* | Cigna Healthcare Dental PPO |
| Vision* | Cigna Healthcare Vision |
| 401K | Vanguard - No company match |
| Health & Dependent Care FSA | Navia Benefits Solutions |
| Health Savings Account (HSA) | Navia Benefits Solutions |
Healthcare - U.S. Employees Only
Monthly Contributions: What You Would Pay Each Month
| MEDICAL PLAN PREMIUMS | EMPLOYEE ONLY | EMPLOYEE + SPOUSE | EMPLOYEE + CHILD(REN) | EMPLOYEE + FAMILY |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independence Blue Cross HDHP 2000 - (100% Company Paid) | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Independence Blue Cross PPO 1500 - (81% Company Paid) | $143.05 | $329.15 | $255.05 | $419.71 |
| Independence Blue Cross PPO 500 - (77% Company Paid) | $184.78 | $425.18 | $329.46 | $542.15 |
| VISION PLAN PREMIUMS | EMPLOYEE ONLY | EMPLOYEE + SPOUSE | EMPLOYEE + CHILD(REN) | EMPLOYEE + FAMILY |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cigna Healthcare Vision - (50% Company Paid) | $4.64 | $8.64 | $8.73 | $13.55 |
MEDICAL
| PLAN NAME | PRIMARY OFFICE VISIT COPAY | SINGLE/FAMILY DEDUCTIBLE* | SINGLE/FAMILY OUT-OF-POCKET MAX | COINSURANCE | PRESCRIPTION DRUGS | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independence Blue Cross HDHP 2000 | $30 | Single / $2,000 | Single / $6,750 | 0% | Tier 1 | Tier 2 | Tier 3 | Tier 4 |
| Family / $4,000 | Family / $13,500 | $20 | $40 | $70 | 50% | |||
| Independence Blue Cross PPO 1500 | $20 | Single / $1,500 | Single / $7,900 | 0% | Tier 1 | Tier 2 | Tier 3 | Tier 4 |
| Family / $3,000 | Family / $15,800 | $20 | $40 | $60 | 50% | |||
| Independence Blue Cross PPO 500 | $20 | Single / $500 | Single / $7,900 | 0% | Tier 1 | Tier 2 | Tier 3 | Tier 4 |
| Family / $1,000 | Family / $15,800 | $20 | $40 | $60 | 50% |
DENTAL
| PLAN NAME | SINGLE/FAMILY DEDUCTIBLE | ANNUAL MAX | ORTHODONTIA (LIFETIME MAX) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cigna Healthcare Dental PPO | Single / $50 | $1,500 | Child Only $1,500 |
Healthcare-U.S. Employees Only
Other Information
24/7 VIRTUAL CARE VISITS
All Independence Blue Cross health plans offer 24/7 access to virtual care visits all across the U.S. through Teladoc.
SELECTED EXCLUSIONS + LIMITATIONS TO OUR HEALTH COVERAGE
While we would love to expand our health coverage and will continue to explore ways to do so, we’re sharing a selection of exclusions and limitations that our current U.S. package contains: Fertility treatment is not covered. Bariatric surgery is not covered. Limited gender affirming surgeries. Please note these are not the only important exclusions and limitations. If you need more details on plan coverage, please contact us at careers@duckduckgo.com. If you’d like to maintain anonymity in such a request, we encourage you to use a disposable email address.
DISCLAIMER
The well-being options illustrated in this guide are meant to serve as a summary of the options available. This guide is for informational purposes only and is not a contract or a guarantee of any team member’s eligibility for any particular support resource; healthcare carrier plans supersede in the event of any discrepancies. Participation in any well-being option is in no way to be considered a contract of employment, implied or otherwise. Well-being options may be amended, modified, or terminated by DuckDuckGo without notice at any time. Please contact us at careers@duckduckgo.com if you have any questions about our support resources. And if you’d like to maintain anonymity in such a request, we encourage you to use a disposable email address.