• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Employers Make New Commitments to Back-Up Child and Elder Care Solutions with Bright Horizons

Posted on: Thursday, 14 May 2009, 08:38 CDT

Organizations rely on child and elder care benefits to increase productivity and ease burden for families during recession

WATERTOWN, Mass., May 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Bright Horizons Family Solutions LLC today announced that more than 35 companies have signed on to offer employees back-up child and elder care since the beginning of the year, helping employers meet productivity needs and easing the burden for working families in the midst of the global recession. Back-up care enables working parents to bring their child, including school-agers, to a convenient, high-quality child care center, or use an in-home provider for child or elder care, allowing parents to concentrate on work knowing their loved ones are being well cared for. Many families rely on back-up care in the summer to cover gap weeks when schools are closed and camps are not yet in session.

Companies adopting Bright Horizons(R) back-up care solutions come from a wide range of industries, including organizations in the pharmaceutical, manufacturing, retail, financial, legal and technology sectors. Clients include Archer Daniels Midland Company, Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc., Discovery Communications, Juniper Networks, and Wyeth.

"We are pleased to welcome these new back-up care clients to Bright Horizons and partner with them to provide critical supports to employees. These employers understand that taking care of employees' families makes strategic business sense and is critical to their long-term sustainability. Through back-up care, organizations increase productivity, while making it possible for employees to effectively manage their work and home lives," said Bright Horizons Chief Executive Officer Dave Lissy.

Reducing Costs of Lost Productivity, Even During National Health Emergencies

When school is closed, a caretaker is sick, or there are breakdowns with other child or elder care arrangements, parents are often forced to take the day off from work. U.S. businesses lose $3 billion in productivity each year when employees are not able to come to work because of breakdowns in child care. With back-up child and elder care solutions from Bright Horizons, these organizations and hundreds like them can reduce the cost of lost productivity.

Bright Horizons' back-up care solutions can meet the unique needs of individual employers or families, or can be customized to respond to broad based emergency events. Recently, during the swine flu outbreaks when many school systems were closed, Bright Horizons launched Back-Up Care Advantage: Crisis Care Assist, an emergency child care solution to help employers and working families manage during times of public health emergencies when schools and regular child care are not available due to possible health risks. More information about Bright Horizons' Crisis Care Assist is available at http://www.brighthorizons.com/resources/pdf/pr/buca_crisis_care_release.pdf.

Recent Studies Reveal Business Value of Back-up Care

A study released recently by The Consulting Practice at Bright Horizons (www.brighthorizons.com/lastingimpact) confirms that employers that provide back-up child and elder care are helping to maintain the productivity and commitment of employees.

• Of the sandwich generation respondents to the study, 77 percent are more productive because back-up care is available to them.
• 86 percent of respondents reported that in the last six months, back-up care enabled them to work on a day they otherwise would not have been able to, and on average, back-up care enabled them to work four days during that time.
• Additional survey data indicates that 97 percent of parents say back-up care enabled them to focus on work and make it possible for them to integrate both professional and personal demands.

A recent article in The Wall Street Journal discusses why organizations are making new commitments to work/life benefits including back-up child care and elder care, even as the recession continues. The article, Perking Up: Some Companies Offer Surprising New Benefits, can be accessed at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123733195850463165.html.

About Bright Horizons Family Solutions(R)

Bright Horizons(R) (www.brighthorizons.com) operates more than 600 child care and early education centers across the U.S., in Europe, and Canada, including more than 80 dedicated back-up child care centers. Bright Horizons serves more than 70,000 children and more than 700 clients worldwide, including more than 95 of the FORTUNE 500 and 75 of the "Best Companies to Work for in America" as designated by Working Mother magazine.

SOURCE Bright Horizons Family Solutions LLC

Source: PR Newswire

More News in this Category