Care emergencies and gaps in care
It is often the unplanned absences and recurring gaps in childcare that present parents with particular challenges when it comes to balancing work and family life. The childminder is ill and an important appointment cannot be rescheduled, childcare center is closed for three weeks over the summer, a business trip is coming up or grandma and grandpa cannot look after the children for the entire vacation. There are countless unresolved childcare situations that parents have to solve time and time again. And it is precisely these situations that often cause particular stress.
Companies can support their employees in alleviating precisely these stressful situations. There are various measures and resources available to help your employees bridge both unplanned and planned gaps in care.
This not only helps the parents concerned, but is also a benefit for the company:
- Fewer absences and greater focus at work
- Parents are more willing to be flexible with their time and to participate in unscheduled events.
- Employees on parental leave can stay in touch with the company, participate in events (e.g., training for new software), or fill in for others. When they return, they are back to full capacity more quickly.
- Parents are more likely to return from parental leave early if not every childcare shortage leads to stress or missed workdays.
- An image boost and an advantage when recruiting new staff.
The following section presents three key services—in-house childcare, backup childcare, and vacation childcare—that allow you to offer your employees planning certainty and support during times when childcare is unavailable.
In-house support
In-house childcare means that children spend time with their parents at the company. This is already common practice in many companies, even without major conceptual and organizational planning. The mere possibility of bringing children with them is a very helpful support for many parents. The official announcement of this option already takes a lot of pressure off parents.
Even with a small investment, companies can make their in-house childcare more professional—for example, by providing a toy box. This should contain some children’s books, building blocks, Lego bricks, colored pencils, coloring books, sketch pads, stuffed animals, and dolls. The next step would be to set up a play corner or a playroom. Suitable locations include, for example, vacant offices, conference rooms, unused storage rooms, or a section of a break room. A parent-child room or parent-child office is another option. This space provides a workspace for parents while also offering play and activity options for the children they bring along, such as a toy box, a table with chairs, places to rest, and a changing table for the little ones. The “Room Requirements and Safety” checklist in the Infobox offers some guidance on how to safely and practically set up spaces for in-house childcare. It also includes a suggestion for basic toy supplies tailored to specific age groups.
If children are brought to work, they must be supervised in one way or another. The older the children are, the less effort is required. School-age children are usually quite capable of entertaining themselves. Of course, parents can provide care themselves, for example, in a parent-child office. Alternatively, companies can consider whether there are employees who would be willing to temporarily supervise and care for children and be relieved of their other duties during that time. In such cases, responsibilities, qualifications, supervision, and liability issues should be clarified in advance. Ultimately, you may want to consider hiring external caregivers. This makes sense, for example, when several children are brought to the workplace at the same time due to an event or training session. External caregivers can include retired employees, as well as babysitters and other qualified caregivers.
The major advantage of in-house support is that it can usually be implemented very quickly. This service acts as a backup, allowing your employees to be available even outside their regular working hours when needed (e.g., for an event or an important meeting that cannot be rescheduled). At the same time, parents do not have to stay home if an (unplanned) childcare gap arises (e.g., a sick child care provider or a closed childcare center).
The services you offer to parents and their children on your company’s premises should be determined based on actual needs. In the info box, you’ll find a questionnaire to assess the needs of the parents on your staff. The list titled “Types of Childcare Situations and Appropriate Facilities” in the info box shows which services can address various work situations and childcare emergencies.
The costs incurred by the company also depend on the scope of the program. In general, in-house childcare is a very cost-effective solution. If parents simply bring their children to work with them, the program can even be free of charge for the company. If toys are purchased and/or a room is set up, some material costs will be incurred. Here, you can consider whether to involve employees and, for example, have them donate toys that are no longer needed or that the company has duplicates of. Staffing costs will be incurred if additional caregivers are hired.
Communicate the possibility of bringing children along proactively in your company. You are sure to reach parents who were previously afraid to ask for this option.
Back-up support
It won’t always be possible—and not in every company—to bring children to work in emergencies. This could be because there are no suitable facilities available, or because employees are frequently on business trips or at client meetings. In this case, it’s worth considering working with an external service provider to arrange backup childcare solutions.
What does “back-up care” actually mean? “Back-up” means that children are cared for by educational staff in a care facility similar to a regular one—such as a childcare center or daycare—where they receive educational support. Depending on the situation, this care can be arranged on an hourly, daily, or weekly basis. Back-up care is intended to spare parents the hassle of having to find last-minute care on their own. Back-up solutions are for situations where regular care is unavailable for various reasons and an alternative is urgently needed. They can also be used to fill predictable, temporary gaps in care. It is intended as a supplement to—not a competitor of—regular childcare facilities.
Backup care can be provided at dedicated facilities, or individual spots may be reserved at childcare centers or daycare centers for backup situations. The idea behind these care options is that they can be booked and arranged even on very short notice. Professional backup services are designed specifically for unexpected and spontaneous emergencies. In addition, they often have very flexible hours tailored to parents’ needs.
So that parents do not have to bring their children to such a back-up facility completely unprepared, there are usually trial days to get to know each other.
Companies can support their employees by contractually reserving a certain number of backup spots at an existing facility for emergency childcare needs and covering the associated costs.
Vacation care
When schools are closed during the vacations, many parents have to organize childcare themselves. The vacation time of employees with school-age children is often not enough to be permanently available during the vacation period. When vacations are coming up, parents regularly have the problem of finding good childcare. Many public and private kindergartens and daycare centers, as well as childminders, usually close for a few weeks over the summer.
Through company-sponsored vacation programs, businesses can provide crucial support to their employees during this time and avoid conflicts. A good vacation program is beneficial for companies because employees can be scheduled according to the workload, and less consideration needs to be given to vacation requests. Disputes within the team over the coveted vacation times during school breaks can be avoided. And even during vacations, parents are able to work with greater focus when their children are well cared for—often even on company grounds.
Vacation care can take the form of daily or weekly programs held on company premises or nearby. Ideally, the program—especially in the summer—covers the entire vacation period. Vacation programs are generally offered for school-age children or children ages four and up. They are generally available for younger children as well, but require more staff. Companies can run the programs themselves, though this involves a certain amount of time and organizational effort. This includes finding, renting, and setting up suitable facilities; designing, organizing, and implementing the program; and finding qualified caregivers. The info box includes an example of a weekly schedule as well as the facility requirements for running a vacation program.
It is recommended that you hire external providers to organize and run a vacation program on your company’s premises. If there are already regional vacation programs available, you may also consider reserving spots for your employees’ children in these external programs. You may also be able to act as a partner in such a program.
For older children—usually ages 10 and up—in addition to “on-site” vacation care, you can also offer vacation trips. In this case, you should definitely work with an external service provider that organizes and offers vacation trips.
Such trips can range from regional adventure trips in the countryside to sports-related weeks in Germany and language trips abroad.
Before planning a company vacation program, you should first assess the needs of your employees. To do so, you can use thequestionnaire for assessing the need for vacation care found in the Info Box. It serves as a template that can be supplemented or modified to suit your company’s specific needs and circumstances. It is important to assess needs early on so that employees can plan around the program and there is sufficient time for organization. The cost-effectiveness of a company-run vacation program depends, among other things, on the number of participating children, the staff-to-child ratio, the program itself, and regional costs. If only a few families need vacation care, you can also support them through in-house care (see above) as an alternative to running your own vacation program.
At the end of the vacation program—or very soon afterward—you should ask the parents how satisfied they were. Our parent survey in the info box can help you with this. The survey will tell you whether parents were satisfied with the content and quality of the program and whether their children’s participation provided them with some relief. The results of the parent survey will help you determine whether it would be worthwhile to offer the vacation program again next year.
The costs of employer-sponsored vacation care can vary widely and depend on the type of program (in-house, external, vacation trip), the quality of the program, and whether you run the vacation program on your own or in collaboration with a partner. Costs are also influenced by regional variations in care providers’ fees, the amount of parental contributions, as well as the age of the children being cared for and the associated staff-to-child ratio.