Child care
Availability of high quality, affordable child care is an important issue for workers with family responsibilities. Employers are increasingly recognising the benefits which flow to both business and its employees from employer sponsored child care initiatives. Particular benefits for employers include:
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increased ability to attract and retain workers;
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improved staff morale, motivation and efficiency;
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reduced absenteeism associated with child care difficulties;
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reduced stress associated with work/child care conflicts;
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optimised investment in training and ensured return on investment in employees' talent; and
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enhanced business image, public profile and corporate citizenship.
Issues for employers
Child Care Options
Introducing child care initiatives
Examples of Employer-Sponsored Child Care Provisions
More information
Issues for employers
There are many options that employers may consider in response to the child care needs of their employees. Some of these may be achieved with minimal cost to the employer.
Employers need to explore a range of issues in order to determine which option/s will best suit their purposes. For example, a cost-benefit assessment addressing company goals, available resources, the expressed child care requirements and preferences of employees and the availability of other appropriate non-employer sponsored child care options in the area may be useful.
The cost of quality child care is a significant factor in the decisions families make about their employment and child care arrangements. Employers should be mindful of this in deciding how to approach and/or structure employer sponsored child care. Providing assistance with child care can be a recruitment or retention tool for employers.
The Commonwealth Government provides financial assistance directly to low and middle income families to help meet the cost of child care. As part of examining possible employer sponsored child care options, employers are advised to consider the compatibility of their own child care arrangements with the eligibility criteria for this assistance.
Employers can establish new child care services or link into existing services. The employer will need to assess the advantages of one approach over another in light of the needs of their workforce, the relevant State/Territory and Local Government licensing requirements and Commonwealth Government guidelines applying to employer sponsored child care.
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Child Care Options
Employer sponsored child care options include the following:
Advice and referral services
Advice and referral services help parents select an appropriate child care service. There are a number of services already in operation to which an employer can subscribe. The Child Care Access Hotline (1800 670 305) is a federal government information service on child care options and location of services which is available for use by parents and employers.
This can be a suitable option for employers who do not have the resources to offer a direct-care service, or where the organisation has many work sites and a wide range of employee child care needs. Many employers offer ‘child care kits’ with information and resources provided.
Advice and referral services are most effective in locations where there are opportunities to access existing private or community-based child care places.
School holiday care/vacation care
Many parents find school holidays a difficult time in terms of finding all-day care for their children. School holiday programmes provide care and planned activities for primary school age children during school holidays at a suitable facility such as a community hall.
Employers could sponsor these programmes along with community groups, including schools. Alternatively, they could provide information on services available and arrange bookings for employees.
Before and/or after school hours care
Before and after school hours care programmes operate in a similar manner to school holiday programs, and provide school age children with supervised care and activities before and/or after school to ‘fill the gap’ between school hours and work hours for many working parents.
Home-based care
Home-based care is offered in the child's or carer's own home and can be a formal (Family Day Care Scheme - FDC) or informal arrangement. Employers could extend the places in a FDC scheme, establish a new scheme or provide/subsidise care for individual employees' children.
Sponsoring FDC places may particularly suit multi-site organisations with diverse child care needs across different age groups, and hours of care can often be more flexible than centre-based care.
Centre-based long day care
Centre-based long day care is offered in buildings specifically built or renovated to provide care, education and developmental activities generally for children aged from six weeks to school age.
Establishing a new centre
Employers can establish their own centre, or combine in a joint venture with other employers, local government or an experienced child care provider.
By establishing their own centre, employers can better tailor the service to meet the needs of their employees eg in operating hours, location etc.
Reserving places
Employers can negotiate with a child care operator to reserve places in a centre for an agreed contribution amount. This allows the employees priority of access to a predetermined number of places, over an agreed number of years.
Care of sick children
Employers could consider the following options to assist employees manage their work and family responsibilities on the occasions that they have sick children:
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providing access to a range of flexible work and leave practices such as family leave, time-in lieu or short-term, home-based work arrangements;
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providing a family room at the workplace in which employees can work while supervising a mildly sick child; or
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contracting a home nursing agency to provide staff to care for sick children in the child's home.
Financial assistance
Some employers, depending on how they structure their employer sponsored child care centre, may be eligible for an exemption from Fringe Benefits Tax.
The Commonwealth Government also provides assistance directly to families with the cost of child care. However, the structure and specifically the payment arrangements for care under an employer sponsored child care scheme, may impact on a family's eligibility for Commonwealth funded Child Care Assistance.
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Introducing child care initiatives
Workplace agreements made under the Federal Government’s Workplace Relations Act (1996) provide a very effective means for introducing policies and practices, such as child care initiatives, which help employees balance their work and caring responsibilities. An increasing number of businesses have found that the variety of options available for making agreements, and the processes involved, have enabled them to develop new and innovative initiatives that benefit both employees and the business.
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Examples of Employer-Sponsored Child Care Provisions
The Australian Federal Police
has a ‘Dial an Angel’ Emergency Care Program which provides emergency care including child care.
SAAB Systems Pty Ltd
provides employees with a child care subsidy for up to three months after an employee has returned from maternity leave.
Star
City Casino management has established a 24 hour child care centre to cater for the needs of staff who, without round-the-clock child care facilities, would not be able to work at the casino. The centre is located in a secure building, with playground facilities, about five minutes drive from the casino. It is licensed for 15 children under 2 years of age. Two full-time staff are available at all hours.
The centre has a strong, regular clientele among staff. Its value to both employees and management is confirmed by the fact that
Star City has the lowest staff turnover rate of any casino in
Australia.
Other organisations which provide work based child care or access to reserved child care places include Westpac Banking Corporation, Santa Sabina College and the City of Melbourne.
Many organisations provide child care information kits and/or referral services. For example Minter Ellison provides information for their employees on leave entitlements, flexible work arrangements and links to useful child care websites are provided on the company’s intranet. Staff in the Melbourne office can get a 10 per cent discount for child care services from a local child care centre.
More information
For more information on Commonwealth child care options and financial assistance available, contact the Child Care Access Hotline on 1800 670 305. Further information on child care options can be obtained by contacting the federal Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs on 1300 653 227 or visiting the Family Assistance Office website.
For more information on work and family, go to the work and family home page.
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