University offers emergency care scheme

By flexibleboss on January 30, 2014 • ( 0 )

Imperial College London has become the first university in the UK to provide staff with access to emergency child and eldercare.

The service is designed to provide staff with greater flexibility when managing their work and family responsibilities. The university cover the registration costs to the service, which is provided by My Family Care, while individuals pay for any care used.

Under the scheme, which launched in January, all staff to have access to three back-up care services: emergency childcare, school holiday cover and adult & eldercare.

Professor James Stirling, provost of Imperial, said: “Parents and carers, who make up a significant proportion of our staff, can find it challenging to juggle the demands of work and family. This initiative is part of our continuing commitment to ensuring that Imperial staff receive the support and help that they need to balance these responsibly.”

Ben Black, Director of My Family Care, added: “Imperial College London is just one of the many companies that are being forward-thinking enough to put family-friendly values at the top of the agenda. If employees know they have that safety net of having some extra help if they have a childcare or eldercare crisis, then they will inevitably be more engaged, able to work and loyal to a company they can rely on to help them and their family out.”