Let’s face it: Retail workers have a lot to juggle. And for working parents in the industry, a work-life balance can feel impossible. They need help. They need employee childcare benefits.

This tenuous strain on retail employees impacts you as their employer too. Labor shortages, retention, and hiring are severe challenges for all businesses — including retail companies.

So what’s the solution? Supporting workers with employer-sponsored childcare benefits, for starters. Childcare benefits for employees help working families manage their childcare issues. These programs address your problems of retention, hiring, and labor shortages.

What type of childcare benefits work for retail employees?

Childcare is complicated, with no easy answers. There are many different childcare benefits options to explore, and multiple childcare networks from which to choose. And numerous types of childcare to consider as the right answer for your retail workforce needs.

Fortunately, one type of childcare is an excellent match for retail working families: home daycares. They are not a one-size-fits-all solution, but home daycares are more flexible than other childcare options and often cover non-traditional work hours.

Retail employees, who often work evening, weekend, and overnight hours, face different childcare issues than working parents organizing their lives around more conventional work schedules.

As many of us know firsthand, retail is tough work, and it requires much physical, mental, and emotional endurance to succeed. It’s important to note here that supporting retail workers as an employer takes a significant investment of time and effort, as well.

Contact our team at Upwards to find out more about specific childcare benefits programs.

Who are retail employees?

Retail is a fairly broad category encompassing countless positions at small, medium, and large businesses in multiple economic sectors across American society. These hard-working employees go by a range of titles, including:

• cashier
• sales associate
• store manager
• buyer
• visual merchandiser
• cleaning and maintenance worker
• security guard
• customer service assistant

This list covers only a portion of the retail workers who need flexible employee childcare benefits as they manage unconventional schedules.

Not only are they valuable employees to their retail employers, but these retail workers also fill key positions throughout the economy and help keep things running smoothly. If we didn’t have their integral contributions, we’d find daily life to be much more complex and haphazard.

Home daycares are known for flexibility, affordability

Let’s say you’re on board with looking into employee childcare benefits to support your workforce while improving retention and hiring. But why home daycares, you ask?

Home daycare providers can be found throughout the country in urban, suburban, and rural areas. They are qualified, compassionate caregivers running a small business from home. These caring providers are likely to be your fellow neighbors, parents, and grandparents in the community.

Home daycares offer added flexibility because providers have more control over their own schedules. The inherent adaptability typically allows for earlier drop-off times and later pick-up times. This means that home daycares often provide childcare outside of the mostly limited 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. block found at many large on-site daycare centers.

With some home daycare providers, evening, weekend, and overnight care is possible. Finding quality childcare during these hours can make all the difference for retail employees, enabling them to focus more at work with their childcare concerns set aside.

In addition to more flexible schedules, home daycares offer:

• Affordability: On average, home daycares are up to 40% more affordable than large daycare centers. Employee childcare benefits centered around home daycare providers also offer more affordable and cost-effective programs for employers as well.
• Convenient locations: Instead of being limited to commuting to one daycare center that may not be close to home or work, retail working families can find multiple home daycare locations close to home. Because of this, utilizing a home daycare provider can result in a considerably more convenient childcare experience overall.
• Childcare for school-aged children: Many families need care coverage for their school-aged children and are not served by childcare centers or daycares that only accommodate children up to age five. Most home daycares, however, can provide care for kids up to age 12. This is important as children ages 5 - 12 still need to be supervised during hours of the day when they’re not in school. There are also extended summer breaks and holidays when care is needed.

Retail employees need employer support with childcare benefits

For most retail workers, the cold reality is that the childcare status quo simply won’t cut it for their family. This realization also impacts their employers trying to provide employee childcare benefits.

Traditional on-site daycare is one childcare model that doesn’t particularly work well for retail families who are juggling so much at one time: unconventional schedules, overnight and holiday hours, plus their ongoing, 24/7 childcare responsibilities at home. As a result, on-site daycare centers are not a feasible solution for most retail employees looking for childcare.

Similarly, traditional employer-sponsored childcare benefits might fall short for retail employees if there is no coverage beyond basic care. Retail working families need comprehensive employee childcare benefits — preferably programs that include emergency/backup care.

Finding the right childcare is stressful for most families under any circumstances. Non-traditional work hours only complicate family life further. If retail employees are unable to land affordable childcare, it could be the last straw that causes them to decide to leave their job so they can care for their kids. This is the last resort, but sometimes a necessary one.

Home daycares = the childcare solution for retail employees

If your goal is to offer a practical childcare benefits program that addresses working families pain points, home daycares are a natural choice.

Home daycare providers offer more flexible childcare options to assist busy working families who are attempting to balance demanding retail jobs and home life.

As an employer thinking about supporting your entire workforce, including hard-working parents juggling unconventional hours, best practice is to choose childcare benefits for employees featuring home daycares. These caregivers provide the inherent flexibility needed for retail families.

As most working parents seek affordable childcare options, home daycare rates represent a better budget fit for a wide range of retail employee salaries. If you’re planning to offer an employee childcare benefits program at your organization, choosing one with home daycare providers is a way to support a diverse workforce and be more inclusive.

Upwards provides modern childcare benefits

As you do your research and gather more information about employee childcare benefits, the importance of which childcare network you select becomes more evident.

Upwards oversees the largest network of childcare providers in the U.S. and is a leader in childcare benefits for employees. Our network consists of over 5,000 licensed home daycare providers, along with an additional 30,000+ nannies and babysitters. We utilize technology to design affordable employee childcare benefits for any organization seeking to support their working families.

We offer flexible employee childcare benefits programs for retail organizations to consider, ranging from childcare assistance and backup care to childcare stipends.

Upwards’ Childcare Assistance program enables employers to help families discover and access quality, affordable childcare in their own neighborhoods. Backup care supports families when childcare plans fall through or change unexpectedly. Full and partial childcare stipends allow employers to help their employees by offsetting childcare costs.

You can always customize your employer-sponsored childcare benefits program by selecting the offerings that address the specific needs of your working families and best suit your unique retail workforce.

Our team is here to help advise you on the right employee childcare benefits programs to move the needle for your business and workforce: benefits@upwards.com.

It’s time to retain more of your hard-working retail employees and help them finally find that elusive work-life balance they’ve heard so much about.