Workplace Creche – Benefits For Parents and Employees – and their children

Childcare is expensive, the average cost of nursery fees in the UK is £850 per month and this rises to £1,100 in London. Many parents are paying more still for places in high quality nurseries and creches where demand for places outstrips supply.

One of the key benefits of a workplace creche scheme is that it saves parents money, a four-figure sum per year.

A parent paying standard rate tax and with a fairly typical monthly nursery bill of £1,000 per month would save around £3,000 per year through the scheme, this in tax and National Insurance savings.

Any parent with multiple children in nursery or creche provision could save far more still – a higher rate tax payer with a monthly nursery bill of £2,000 would save a staggering £8,548 per year.

We have a full savings calculator on site.

The savings are far higher than with the old Childcare Voucher scheme, for parents the workplace nursery and creche schemes are a significant upgrade and so a benefit they need to push their employer to provide.

There are other benefits for parents too. The reduced costs make it easier to book in extra childcare, covering extra days as required without the expense being overly burdensome.

Parents also get a say in how extra funding at the nursery is spent – as part of the benefit the nursery or cache receives additional funding, the parents getting a say in how this is spent. It could be used to improve outside space, stock up on educational toys or provide educational trips out.

Parent enquiry form

Workplace Creche – Benefits For Employers

A workplace creche or nursery benefits employers by helping their employees.

The savings enjoyed by employees might be the difference between being able to return to work post pregnancy or leaving the role, with nursery payments negating salary earned.

In less dramatic cases, the savings might alter how many days an employee is able to work.

The establishment of a workplace creche also ensures that parents have assured places at a quality childcare provider, making it that bit easier for them to focus on their job during work hours.

The benefit also helps both retain quality employees and entice new comers. Salary is far from the only thing people consider when choosing who to work for, an employer who makes things easier by having an affiliation with a nursery or creche, a benefit which also saves the employee a considerable sum, will be looked upon favourably. An employee is also less likely to leave if their current employers are also giving them assured childcare at a reduced price.

A concern for the employer might be that there is administration or cost, however this is not the case. At Enjoy Benefits, we would set up the link with an approved, local nursery and talk you through all the paperwork and then manage the ongoing administration. There is no ongoing work for the employer to do.

With the removal of the Childcare Voucher Scheme it is going to be increasingly beholden of employers to offer an alternative, the workplace nursery scheme is that alternative – it works out better for your employees and also requires no ongoing administration from your side.

Employer enquiry form

Workplace Creche – Benefits For The Creche / Nursery

By linking with an employer as part of a workplace creche or nursery scheme, there are benefits for the nursery too.

Payments are received at the start of the month directly from the employer so there is no need to chase bills or payments, the whole process is smooth.

Additional funding is also received, for instance the nursery receiving up to an extra £1,200 per year for each family with a child at your establishment. A nursery or creche with 20 children from the same employer could be receiving an extra £24,000 per year – this to be spent on improvements to the provision, making the setting even more outstanding.

The benefit then goes full circle, the guaranteed income and ease of payment makes the running and administration of your nursery or creche facility more straightforward, the extra funding then helping you to invest. As you reap the benefits, your setting becomes more in demand and so new parents are attracted.

Nursery Enquiry Form

Workplace Nursery Scheme – How To Set Up

For HMRC to be happy that the scheme is compliant, a number of ‘key pegs’ have to be established. These are covered on site and are in no way problematic, a benefit provider such as Enjoy Benefits are experienced in correctly setting ups this benefit.

There is more on how the scheme works available here.

Why consider Enjoy Benefits to set up and administer the scheme?

We use a web based system that means any queries are typically answered within an hour.

We provide parents and employers with an app so they can easily manage childcare provision.

You will have a dedicated account manager.

And, we are experts in a whole suite of benefits and so, if it is of interest, can help any employer set up a range of benefits that are beneficial to employee and employer alike.

To find out more about workplace creche or to discuss your bespoke requirements, please call us today on 0800 088 7315.