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frequently asked questions
for corporate administrators
Q: What services does Parents in a Pinch offer?
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• Backup Childcare
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In-home care for healthy or mildly ill children, overnight care during business travel, weekend and evening care when employees must work late |
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Referral to a local daycare center that has space available for backup care on the day care is needed |
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Management of reimbursements to employees for backup childcare, including care which employees find on their own |
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• Backup Eldercare
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Companion and personal care services, such as meal preparation, light housekeeping, prompting for medication, and assistance with bathing, dressing, and activities of daily living |
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One-on-one eldercare consultations |
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National access to geriatric care managers, who can conduct a comprehensive in-home assessment of an elder's needs |
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Management of reimbursements to employees for backup eldercare, including care which employees find on their own |
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• Eldercare and Childcare Seminars and Webinars
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Q: Can I choose the mix of services I want to provide?
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Absolutely. You may decide to provide any one or a combination of the services described above. Often it depends on where your employees reside. For example, in-home childcare is often not available in primarily rural areas; however, your company can provide reimbursement for the backup resources that the employee finds on his or her own in those areas, while still making available in-home care for employees who live in metropolitan areas.
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Q. How does the payment system work?
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Your company is charged an administrative fee based on the size of your employee base as well as the number of locations we will be serving. This allows each employee to utilize up to 20 days per year of childcare and/or eldercare. In addition, this fee includes a number of seminars, webinars, attendance at benefit fairs, and marketing materials.
Employees are expected to pay their caregiver at the end of each day of care for the hours provided. Some companies choose to reimburse all or part of this employee payment. The reimbursement is managed by Parents in a Pinch.
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Q. How do you reimburse employees?
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Parents in a Pinch will open an escrow account in the name of your company. You deposit the amount you decide into this account. When employees use the backup care benefit, they send a request form to Parents in a Pinch and we send them a check based on the reimbursement parameters that you determine. At the end of the contract year, the money remaining in the account reverts to your company or is rolled over to the next contract year.
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Q. How much should the company reimburse?
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Some companies reimburse all or part of the cost for the first 5 or 10 times the benefit is used, and the employee pays the full amount thereafter. Other companies reimburse on a sliding fee scale based on income. The reimbursement parameters are up to you. Parents in a Pinch is flexible and will implement the system you wish to put in place.
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Q. Can employees use their flexible spending accounts to pay for the service?
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Yes. Parents in a Pinch will provide appropriate documentation for submission when requested by the employee.
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Q. Do my employees have to pre-register in order to use your service?
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Parents in a Pinch does not require pre-registration. Employees simply call and tell us what company they work for and what their needs for care are. However, some companies choose to have their employees pre-register so that HR can confirm the employee's status.
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Q. What's the next step if I want to keep exploring this option?
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Contact us about backup child care or elder care as an employee benefit. Lynne Satlof-Karas, our director of corporate services, will be glad to speak to you about how we can tailor a backup care program to meet your company's needs.
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