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Log in to Schedule Backup CareEmployer child care benefits give your working parents peace of mind – ensuring they don't have to choose between work and life responsibilities. Discover how these benefits can contribute to your business' success and help you build a sustainable workforce.
Employer child care benefits are programs and services designed to help employees manage their child care responsibilities by enhancing work-life balance, reducing stress, and improving productivity. These programs are typically subsidized by an employer on their workforce’s behalf to show their commitment to employee wellbeing, minimize disruption caused by family conflicts, and ultimately, drive retention.
A comprehensive guide
Our guide explains the various types of family care benefits, including stipends, child care centers, and back-up care, to help you build the right program for your unique workforce.
Employer-provided child care centers are located at or near the workplace so that employees can conveniently enroll their children for care during work hours. This gives employees the peace of mind that their children are well cared for while streamlining drop-offs and pick-ups, allowing them to focus fully on work during the day, boosting productivity, employee morale, and retention.
Back-up care provides short-term child care for both planned and unplanned gaps in an employee’s child care coverage. Employees are given a specific number of back-up care days per year, which can be used to provide child care coverage by a qualified in-home provider or drop-in back-up care center.
Between school breaks and summer vacation, schedules can become complex for parents of school-age children. Employers can ease this juggling act by providing access to camps, allowing parents to maintain a regular schedule. Additionally, employers can offer virtual and in-person tutoring options, giving students the after-school academic support that parents often provide. Both options can be made available to employees using back-up care hours.
Through tuition subsidy programs, employers cover a portion or the entire cost of child care arrangements made by employees. By easing the financial burden of child care, employers can build greater loyalty within their workforce while reducing the stress that comes with this burden, often affecting productivity. This benefit also decreases the likelihood that employees will leave the workforce to provide child care themselves.
A Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account (DCFSA) is a pre-tax benefit account that allows employees to set aside money to pay for eligible dependent care expenses. These expenses typically include costs related to child care (like daycare, preschool, or summer camps) or care for a disabled spouse or dependent adult while the employee is at work. By contributing to a DCFSA, individuals can reduce their taxable income, effectively saving money on services they would likely pay for anyway.
Priority or reserved child care spots allow your employees to jump the wait lists at certain child care centers, which can stack up to 6-12 months in some regions, so they can confidently accept a position at your company or smoothly return to work after having a child.
These benefits enable organizations to:
70%: percentage of mothers of young children who prioritize jobs that offer child care benefits
425%: the ROI child care benefits can deliver due to increased productivity and the absence of employee replacement costs
7.4x: average increase in retention rate for employees with access to on-site child care compared to those without
Best-in-class organizations trust Bright Horizons® to deliver employer child care benefits that attract and retain top talent by delivering the ultimate employee experience. An industry leader for nearly 40 years, we’re constantly innovating to ensure we meet the diverse and changing needs of the modern workforce.
Our vast network of providers includes child care centers, in-home caregivers, summer camps, tutors, and more. This ensures your workforce has the solutions they need, when they need them, to meet the needs of every parent in your workforce.
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In the healthcare industry, employees leaving can be especially costly — a one-percent increase in registered nurse turnover will cost the average hospital an additional $289,000 each year. One of the biggest turnover drivers — poor work-life balance — is leading to burnout. Looking to improve employee and patient experiences, more healthcare organizations are turning to employer child care benefits as a retention solution.
Child care benefits can indirectly support employees without children in several ways:
Yes; full-time child care refers to regular, ongoing child care services, often at an on-site child care center serving one specific employee population. Center hours typically align to workforce needs (i.e. extended hours for employees with irregular work schedules) whereas community centers follow a more typical operating schedule.
Back-up care is a temporary child care solution typically used in emergencies or when regular child care arrangements are unavailable. Employees are usually given an allotment of back-up care days that they can use at their discretion. Back-up care allotments can also be used for senior care, pet care, summer camps and tutoring hours.
Employers can claim a federal tax credit of up to $150,000 per year through the Employer-Provided Childcare Credit. This credit allows businesses to offset:
In addition to the federal credit, 17 states offer their own child care tax credits to employers that operate or contract out child care services for employees.
It is crucial to find a reputable partner with an existing network of pre-screened caregivers. This is the best way to be assured that employees with have a certified and trained child care provider who will deliver the best possible care. Bright Horizons provides liability protection and SOC2 data protection for all employees using back-up care.
Give your employees the balance they need to succeed at work and at home. Explore how child care benefits can help your workforce and organization thrive.
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