The power of back-up care programs
Parents need a reliable support system for times when emergencies occur and care routines unexpectedly break down. When children reach elementary and middle school, finding back-up care for these not-yet-independent children is a source of constant stress for working parents. The problem is a growing one: 40 million children are between the ages of 5 and 14, and most companies are leaving the burden on employees to find their own emergency child care solutions. The difficulty of managing child care is leading top employees in every industry to consistently cut back hours and take a pass on promotions as their caregiving responsibilities increase.
While some businesses offer help to parents, most of these solutions are inadequate:
- Discounts to child care centers can be helpful, but only if the centers are conveniently located and have consistent availability for drop-ins.
- Financial support for care offers no help with the time-consuming task of searching for and vetting child care options.
- Apps and online caregiving tools can help with the search process but leave the complex task of coordinating care to the employee.
Back-up daycare programs are a powerful solution to the enormous child care gaps that are causing parents significant stress and costing companies millions of dollars. Companies that offer back-up care make it easy for their employees to secure high-quality emergency care for their children when schedules are interrupted. Bright Horizons programs simplify the process for parents so they can effortlessly coordinate care no matter what emergency arises, minimizing distraction and boosting productivity.
Back-up daycare with Bright Horizons
Bright Horizons is a leading provider of strategic solutions that help employers to build high-performance workforces and support workers through every stage of their lives at work and at home. In addition to offering on-site child care programs for employers, we provide access to dependable back-up daycare programs across the country. Employees can reserve care arrangements with a simple phone call to our 24-hour call center, or with a few clicks on our website or mobile app. Our highly trained consultants organize everything, removing the burden of coordinating back-up care from employees so they can concentrate on the demands of their job.
Highlights of Bright Horizons back-up child care include:
- Center-based care, with exclusive access to Bright Horizons locations and caregivers at one of our 3,500+ high-quality child care centers nationwide.
- In-home care options for convenient care where and when employees need it, provided by Bright Horizons in-home caregivers or staff from hundreds of partner agencies that are all vetted and trained by Bright Horizons.
The business advantage of back-up daycare
Back-up daycare is a powerful way to enhance productivity in the workplace and to relieve the stress of working parents. Offering child care benefits can help retain valuable employees and recruit top talent, many of whom are or are planning to become parents. With Bright Horizons back-up child care, employers are both investing in their employees’ sense of wellbeing as well as the competitiveness of their workforce.
Advantages of Bright Horizons back-up daycare include:
- Complete Coverage: Connect workers to vetted and highly trained caregivers across the county and to conveniently located corporate child care centers.
- Business Continuity: Ensure employees can come to work despite surprises like sickness, school closures, teacher strikes, and other unforeseen events.
- Enhanced Performance: Keep workers focused on productivity by alleviating the burden of worrying about care.
- Improved Retention and Recruitment: Reinforce a family-friendly employer brand to keep valuable employees within the workforce and attract talented job candidates seeking the employer benefits they need to support or start a family.
Additional workforce solutions
In addition to back-up daycare, we offer back-up care programs for aging parents, elderly relatives, and other dependents who may need special assistance. Over 40 million people in this country are caring for aging relatives, while many of them support young children at the same time. A quarter of these individuals are career-oriented millennials, and companies are losing productivity and billable hours as employees struggle to find care for elders who often live far away.
Bright Horizons offers high-quality in-home back-up elder care provided by vetted and trained caregivers. With a simple phone call or a few clicks of a mouse, employees can arrange care for relatives whether they live down the street or across the country.
We also offer additional family-focused solutions that include:
- On-site child care that enables employers to provide high-quality care for working parents while building a brand as a workplace that is supportive of families.
- Elder care services that assist employees who are caring for aging dependents by providing a wealth of resources and expert guidance.
- Additional family supports for assistance with a variety of family, pet care, tutoring, and household responsibilities.
- College coach services that provide educational expertise to alleviate anxiety for employees as they help children prepare for and apply to college.