Blackwell Reference Online

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Childcare, defined as assisting employees with caring for children, is a type of dependant care benefit and family supportive policy. Childcare benefits can reduce employees' financial burden and level of work–family conflict . Work–family conflict can negatively influence employee behaviors, including tardiness, intention to turnover ( Youngblood and Chambers‐Cook, 1984 ; see employee turnover ), performance, absenteeism , job satisfaction , recruitment ( Kossek and Nichol, 1992 ), and organizational commitment ( Grover and Crocker, 1995 ). Although large employers (over 100 employees) are more likely to offer at least several types of childcare benefits, under the US Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA), all employers with 50 or more employees located within a 75–mile radius must provide an unpaid leave of absence of up to 3 months for the birth or adoption of a child, and/or to take care of serious health problems for a child and other family members (including oneself). Beside leaves, the most popular forms of assistance relate to: 1 time (flextime, job sharing , part‐time work, and flexplace; see flexible working hours ; flexible workplace/telecommuting ; part‐time employment ); 2 information (resource and referral, work–family seminars); 3 financial (flexible benefits or spending accounts, discounts, vouchers, adoption; see flexible benefit plans ); ... log in or subscribe to read full text