- Marketplace
Daycare At Your Workplace
by Eric Tumang, Yahoo!7 Finance
One of the most rapidly growing trends in the banking and finance industries is the provision of childcare centres in the workplace. Corporate day-care is gaining popularity because employers are recognising that providing on-site day-care is not only an attractive benefit for employees but also makes good business sense.
Most of the time, parents returning to work are increasingly becoming less efficient and reliable. They are unable to find adequate childcare, causing lowered productivity at work. Employee job satisfaction is also affected. Some parents consistently arrive at work late and leave early in order to drop-off and pick-up their children at day-cares. Others are becoming even less dependable because they are forced to take days off to stay at home with their children when the day-care centres are closed.
As frustrating as this predicament is for the employer it is even more stressful for the employee. Majority of parents depend on their salary as the primary source of income if not the sole income. Having to take days off because their children's day-cares are on a different schedule than that of their company is very exasperating . Arriving and leaving work at irregular hours poses a threat to their job security and lowers possibilities for promotions and bonuses.
Having an on-site childcare centre is a favourable corporate solution. All employees with children will have a dependable guaranteed spot in the facility. The childcare centre should ideally be located within or close by the company's premises to ensure convenient drop-off and collection of kids.
Childcare in the workplace is obviously very appealing to parents with jobs. Firstly, the time travelled between work and the child-care centre is greatly reduced. The parent can bring his or her child to work and drop them off on the way to their office. This has more than one advantage. It cuts down on potential delays that may occur during travel to the day-care. In addition, this decreases daily distractions.
An employee can continue his or her work without having to leave the office to drop off or pick up his or her children. Through minimising distractions, the worker becomes more efficient and consistent. While at work the parent can be at ease knowing that their children are nearby. If an emergency involving the child occurs, the employee can quickly get to his or her child. If they need to be taken to a medical centre, the parent is able to get them there faster because they don't have to travel to the day-care centre first.
An in-house day-care is also a big advantage for mothers who are currently breastfeeding. They can still attend to their infant at work. Instead of taking an extensive maternity leave, mothers can return to their jobs sooner.
Another benefit of a workplace day care centre is the parent-child bonding time. The parent can eat lunch with their child and can get involved with the day-care's activities and special events. This kind of interaction is very important to the well-being of both parent and child.
Corporations that value keeping employed parents satisfied offer day-care at the workplace. You should check with your HR department if there are such facilities available at your company. If not, then don't hesitate to lobby for it. It's a win-win situation for all.
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