Supporting team members that have kids during the holidays

Enabling parents to work flexibly can be a valuable benefit all year round, but it's even more helpful during the school holidays. School-age children have a regular routine and fixed hours during term-time, and parents can organise their work commitments accordingly.

However, that routine disappears during the holidays, and parents must make alternative arrangements to ensure their children are cared for or suitably occupied each day.

Each family's needs vary depending on their children's ages and the type of childcare they can access. For example, some holiday clubs may offer extended hours while others only operate within school hours. Some employees may rely on family members and must adapt to their availability.

Flexible working hours allow parents to adjust their schedules, knowing they can still meet work commitments. You could offer flexible hours and allow staff to suggest their own schedule, for example, coming in later or leaving earlier. Alternatively, you could suggest they compress their working hours over four days instead of five. This has the added benefit of saving them money on childcare costs.

Working from home can be a viable option for parents whose children aren't in a formal childcare setting. As a business, you must consider whether this is suitable for every employee as their needs will likely vary depending on how old their children are and the nature of their work. Many parents can't focus on work tasks while caring for a child. However, older children who can entertain themselves may allow their parents to work without distraction.

Older children require less supervision, and it can be more challenging for parents to find suitable holiday clubs. While residential schemes such as PGL accept children aged up to 16, some limit attendance to those under 12 or 14. Sometimes, even an older primary school child may feel they've grown out of the holiday club at their local nursery.

Working at home allows parents to work their usual hours but take breaks during the day to spend time with their children or be on hand if needed.

A generous holiday allowance lets all your staff take a break when needed and lets parents spend time with their children. You can support parents in your approach to annual leave. While they can book a family holiday in advance, allowing you to coordinate time off and ensure you have sufficient cover in the office, parents often need to take unscheduled leave due to emergencies. A child can become unwell anytime, so allowing parents to take emergency days off or work from home lets them manage this.

Equally, parents who rely on other family members could find themselves without summer childcare at short notice. While summer holiday clubs are less likely to cancel, it can happen if they have insufficient staff or face an environmental crisis, as the Outdoor Pursuits Centre in Leicester did in early 2024.

Health insurance is a highly valued employee benefit that provides your team quick access to medical care when needed. Some health insurers offer family-friendly policy options that allow your employees to add their children to their policy free of charge or to add all their children and only pay for the first one. This gives parents peace of mind, knowing they can access private treatment for their children all year round.

Health insurance services include 24/7 virtual GP appointments, so parents can seek medical advice for themselves or their children when needed.

Some services come into their own during school holidays, when parents face different challenges from those in term time. Let's look at those in more detail.

Access to medical advice

Health insurance provides access to medical advice for common ailments in various ways. We've mentioned virtual GP services, which offer telephone and online GP appointments 24/7. These can reassure and support parents who are unsure whether their child's illness is an emergency or if they need a prescription. During the school year, children will spend most of their time sitting at a desk in a classroom. If they become ill or have an accident in the playground, trained first aiders can provide immediate treatment or advise parents on what to do next. During the holidays, children may be more active and at increased risk of injury. (We know this will likely apply more to younger children; older ones may need encouragement to leave their rooms and electronic devices behind.) The NHS 111 service can act as a triage, but there is often high demand. Quick access to an online video appointment with a GP can provide reassurance or advice on the proper treatment.

The summer also brings new health challenges, such as hay fever, sunburn or insect bites. While a child may need a GP appointment in some cases, most parents can manage their children's symptoms at home. Health insurance providers operate telephone helplines staffed by trained nurses who can give parents general guidance and signpost them to other services and treatment if needed. Most insurers also have online resources with self-help advice on common health conditions to help you manage your child's symptoms or prevent problems from arising.

Mental health and well-being support

Summer holidays can be stressful for parents as they must manage their work and family commitments outside the usual school routine. Allowing parents to work flexibly can make this more manageable and reduce stress. However, it's a good idea to back this up with mental health support employees can access when needed.

A 2022 survey by HR and payroll software company Ciphr found that 40% of employees wanted mental health and well-being support as an employee benefit, putting it at number 4 on a list of the most valued benefits. If you provide employees with health insurance, this will likely include access to 8-10 counselling sessions as part of a basic policy. Employees can typically book counselling sessions directly with the provider without needing a GP referral. While employees can only access a limited number of sessions, they can be ideal for parents struggling with their work-life balance during the holidays.

You can also provide enhanced mental health support and treatment by adding extended mental health coverage and an employee assistance program (EAP) to your policy. EAPs typically provide solution-focused counselling, concentrating on workplace challenges. Extended mental health coverage covers more counselling and CBT sessions and can provide in-patient treatment if needed.

Families with pre-school children can spend up to 30% of their income on childcare if both parents work. If your employees have school-age children, the challenges often differ as they face increased costs during the holidays. The financial support you provide to families can benefit all parents. Your employees may also be able to access additional support during the holidays, depending on their circumstances.

Good quality childcare gives parents peace of mind, knowing their children are being looked after. If your staff have young families who can't be left unattended, being able to access holiday clubs allows them to focus while at work. For older children, parents can come to work confident that their children aren't spending all day attached to an electronic device or roaming the streets.

Childcare vouchers

The government closed the childcare voucher scheme for new entrants in 2018. The scheme worked on a salary sacrifice basis, meaning employees could pay a registered childcare provider with vouchers. Employers paid for vouchers from an employee's pre-tax salary, thereby reducing their employee's income tax liability and their employer's National Insurance contributions.

Whilst the voucher scheme is no longer available to new applicants, your staff can use their vouchers to pay for holiday clubs and day-to-day childcare if you have an existing scheme. Ensuring your team knows they can use their vouchers in this way can help them make an informed choice about whether to continue with the scheme and how much to pay.

Alternatively, your employees may be eligible for tax-free childcare if their child is 11 or under. They must create an online account and can claim up to £2,000 per year for each child, depending on how much they pay into their account.

The Workplace Nursery Scheme

The Workplace Nursery Scheme lets employers partner with a nursery or other registered childcare setting and pay a monthly fee. It works similarly to the childcare voucher scheme as employees pay their fees via salary sacrifice, so they benefit from tax savings. Your business also saves on National Insurance contributions, which is typically enough to cover the cost.

The Workplace Nursery Scheme isn't available for standalone holiday clubs but can help cover the costs of holiday clubs run by nurseries. If your staff already use a local nursery for wraparound care before and after school, the scheme could help them save money throughout the year and minimise the impact of increased costs during the holidays.

The Holiday Activities and Food Scheme (HAF)

The Holiday Activities and Food Scheme (HAF) is a relatively new initiative introduced in 2018 and rolled out nationwide in 2021. It recognises that school holidays can be challenging for parents whose children receive free school meals during term time. Children were at risk of poor nutrition and a lack of access to organised activities which could benefit their well-being.

HAF provides access to meals and holiday clubs for children who are entitled to free school meals because their parents receive certain benefits. It's also open to children with additional needs, such as young carers or those with an education, health, and care plan.

You may not know whether your team members qualify for benefits or have a child whose needs make them eligible for the scheme. However, you can still share information about the scheme so parents can make further enquiries with their local authority if necessary.

We've discussed the cost implications of paying for childcare during the summer holidays, but parents will likely face other financial challenges. Quality family time doesn't have to involve spending money, but it often does. As an employer, you can help your employees enjoy their time off without breaking the bank. Showing your team that you care about their life outside work is excellent for employee engagement and retention.

Providing information about free and low-cost activities in your area can help parents come up with new ideas for entertaining their children during the holidays. It can give variety when they're tired of going to the same museum or park and help parents discover age-appropriate activities as their children grow up.

An employee discount scheme, either as part of your health insurance or a standalone service, can give employees discounts on tickets for days out, attractions, cinema tickets, and holidays. Ensuring employees know the discounts are available can make their summer holiday or cinema trip much cheaper.

We hope this guide has given you food for thought and ideas for ways you can support your team members with children during the holidays and throughout the year.

Before changing the employee benefits you offer, we recommend you seek advice from your legal and financial advisers to assess the impact of any changes you make.

At Globacare, we offer tailored advice on a range of insurance products. If you'd like to add health insurance, income protection, or life coverage to your employee benefits, please contact us for a comparison quote.

We can also support you by reviewing your current provision to see if you can reduce your premiums, improve your coverage, or both.