Should Companies Offer Day Care to Employees?

It’s tough to be a working parent.

You’ve got to find appropriate day care that you feel confident about, get to work, focus while you’re there and then go home to all the other parental chores.

Wouldn’t it be easy if all work places offered childcare? It could solve so much of this. However, it’s really not that simple.

Lots of pros as well as cons exist around the in house daycare model – let’s take a look:

Pros:

The pros come out as pretty obvious. Convenience, close proximity, peace of mind…

* Convenience – What’s easier than taking your child to work and saving the extra stop on the way? The convenience factor is huge. If anyone needs you, you’re right there. Then when the day is done, you just scoop your kid up on the way out and everyone is set to go home. Also, if you are a breastfeeding mom, it makes it much easier.

* Close Proximity – You’re just steps away from your child when he or she is at daycare in your workplace. If someone thinks he may be sick, you can walk over and take a look before leaving work to find it’s nothing more than he’s hungry. You also get to know the daycare workers and can easily pop in and out for quick checks and hugs.

* Peace of mind – You know you’re in the same building; you know what’s going on. If weather is bad, you’re there and not wondering what’s happening at his daycare. Because you are close and can pop in, the employees in the daycare may be more on their toes. Even if you can’t see your child, it just feels better knowing he’s right there.

* Employee retention – It’s been shown that employees that have in house daycare are more likely to stay at work after having kids. It just makes things easier.

Cons

Yes, there are cons…cost, distractions, disruptions…

* Cost- This is a big one. With daycare comes cost due to facility creation and maintenance, supplies, paying daycare employees and the other behind the scenes costs like insurance and liability. This probably won’t be a free situation.

* Distraction and Disruptions – Sure, knowing your child is close is reassuring, but it’s also distracting. Many kids do better once their parents leave, and if you keep popping in, you could set a bad pattern and even hinder social development. Also, the staff may be more prone to come get you than try to solve things without you, which can impair your work productivity.

* Blurred lines – Problems could arise between co-workers if their kids are in daycare together and don’t get along. If issues develop between the parents and daycare staff, it could also get sticky as it’s all part of the work environment. Lines aren’t as clear as they may be in off site facilities.

If your business is considering in house day care, there’s a lot to think about.

 You’ve got to weigh the pros and cons and decide what will benefit everyone (including you) the most. You need to think about productivity, cost and employee well being.

Some businesses are better suited for this than others, and you only want to provide daycare if it can be in an optimum setting and create a better, happier workplace.