A business babysitter as a necessary fringe benefit

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Where companies used to position themselves as good employers by offering extras such as a gym subscription and a thirteenth month, some of the largest employers in our country are now forced to take a different approach: a business babysitter as fringe benefit.

The shortage in the childcare sector, the scarcity on the labour market, and the new developments with regards to the pandemic are forcing employers to continue to actively support their employees and their respective home situations. And that makes sense, according to Charly van der Straten, founder of babysitting platform Charly Cares: “During the corona crisis, every employer experienced how crucial childcare is for working parents. Everything has to be well organised at home with the kids, otherwise employees cannot function, let alone flourish.”

The fact that employers are currently forced to think about such themes such as childcare is apparent from the many requests that Charly Cares receives. Over 75 employers are currently using the business services of the babysitting platform. This includes childcare organisation Kindergarden. Nicole Krabbenborg, general manager: “As a childcare organisation, we too struggle with staff shortages, which means that we sometimes ask (too) much of our permanent colleagues. In order to offer them a helping hand, we support them with a ‘business babysitter’. If our employees' home situations are well organised, that means they can work without having to worry and that our branches can remain open.”

Deloitte is one of the organisations that has chosen to provide a business babysitter as a fringe benefit. Marjolein Heijstraten, Director Performance & Rewards Deloitte: “Deloitte employees can use Charly Cares and even have the option of using their own trusted babysitter via Charly Cares Business. We initially opted to offer this solution during the lockdown period, but will start offering it structurally in June this year. It offers our employees and Deloitte as an organisation the flexibility that suits the current way of working."