Finding reliable child care and still meeting employer scheduling requirements is a concern for many working parents. If a day care provider gets ill or an employee needs to burn the midnight oil, finding the needed child care coverage is often difficult. In situations like these, employees are typically left with no choice but to take time off of work. These types of attendance problems can have a significant impact on business operations, especially for smaller employers.Reliable child care reduces employee tardiness and absenteeism as well as early departures and on the job distractions. So, what can employers do to offer dependable child care to their employees? The options are more cost effective than you may think.

Below are some simple ways businesses can help to ease the burden of employee child care concerns:

1. Tax credits. Your employees may be entitled to a federal tax credit for their child care expenses. This credit is available to people who, in order to work or to look for work, have to pay for child care services for their dependents under the age of 13. The credit can range from 20 to 35 percent of an individual’s day care expenses (depending on income).

2. FSAs. Flexible spending accounts (FSAs) allow employers to set aside a specific amount of an employee’s pre-tax earnings to pay for child care expenses; an amount that is determined by the employee. Employees are eligible to reserve up to $5,000 per year in pre-tax dollars for qualifying child care expenses. Unless the plan provides otherwise, all deferred funds must be used during the tax year in which they are set aside or they will be forfeited.

3. Flextime. Flexible hours may help to eliminate employee tardiness that results when employees need to drop their children off in day care as well as the early departures that come when employees need to pick their children up. Flextime allows employees to begin their workday earlier (or later) and then leave earlier (or later). For example, an employee with the benefit of flextime may arrive to work at 7:00 am and leave at 3:00 pm, rather than working from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. Not only does this option benefit the employee, but it has an advantage to the employer because it provides for greater coverage throughout the day.

4. Telecommuting. Another option to ease child care woes is telecommuting, which allows employees to work from home. Telecommuting often results in lower absenteeism; increased productivity, morale, and retention; and reduced costs for work space, utilities, and other overhead. It’s important to note that offering flexible options shouldn’t be limited to those with family responsibilities; for consistency and equity, these benefits should be offered to all employees.

5. On-site child care. For hospitals and other round-the-clock employers, on-site care may solve staffing problems because it can provide night workers with a solution to the problem of finding child care at a time most daycare centers are closed. And for larger organizations with the means to establish an on-site child care program, this option presents a huge benefit to employees.
6. Employer-funded off-site care. Employers that are not prepared to operate an on-site center may wish to consider funding off-site day care either alone or in consortium with other area employers. This may be an attractive option for employers located near an existing daycare center or employers in large office buildings and industrial parks who can pool their resources into a single center. Typically, employers that fund a daycare center receive a set number of daycare “slots” in return for their financial assistance. Funding, rather than self-operating, a daycare center may also eliminate potential liability concerns.

7. Summer camps. Employer-supported summer camps offer extended hours to cover the full workday, rather than the 9 am to 3 pm hours that are standard at most summer camps. This option helps many employees with school age children who need to find care during the summer months.

8. Backup day care. Some employers provide access to child care services that employees can use on an occasional basis to fill unexpected gaps in care. Although employees still need to have daycare arrangements in place, having a “drop-in center” where parents can bring a child when a caregiver calls in sick, or when schools close unexpectedly, can dramatically reduce absenteeism. Some employers subsidize the backup programs and require employees to pay for a portion of the service while other employers provide employees with a predetermined allotment of days per year to use the backup care free of charge.

Offering day care assistance within your company may be a low cost option that can yield high returns. Offering some from of child care assistance can result in decreased tardiness and absenteeism, increased employee productivity and morale, and decreased turnover.