The Child Care Voucher Scheme and Employers

For the child care voucher scheme to work properly, it needs to benefit all the parties involved; the employer, the employee and the child care provider. If you are an employer and you are considering offering child care vouchers as part of your incentives package, here are some reasons why you should go ahead:

Recruitment and Retention

In an increasingly competitive business world, many prospective employees pay as much attention to the benefits package as they do to the job description. Employers who offer a wide range of additional benefits are more attractive to job hunters, and are more likely to attract well-qualified and experienced applicants. Similarly, if you've invested time training existing staff, it will be far easier to offer benefits that encourage them to remain with the company, than to hire someone to replace them because they've gone elsewhere.

Limited administration

Many staff benefits require a significant amount of administration from within the business. Child care voucher schemes do not. They are largely run by an outside company, such as Fennies, which can also help you to market the scheme to staff when it is launched, and who will manage the distribution of vouchers and other paperwork relating to the scheme. All the employer has to do is make the decision to offer the scheme to employees, and the bulk of the administrative burden is passed on.

Financial Savings

The child care voucher system is based on “salary sacrifice”. Employees will agree to exchange a certain amount of their regular salary payment for the vouchers. This exchange takes place before any tax or National Insurance deductions are made, thereby saving the company money on its National Insurance contributions.

Perception

A company that offers truly useful incentives and special schemes to its staff is rewarded with employee loyalty and a reputation as a good employer. The perception that your staff, customers, suppliers and shareholders have of your company will be positive, which could, in the long-term, contribute to the growth and success of your business.

If you're not currently operating a child care voucher scheme, contact us now to find out how easy it is, and the benefits it can bring you.

For more information,
please call us on 020 8763 8039 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Date: 08/12/2005