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| Do you think it is an employer's duty to help employees quit smoking? |
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Childcare providers have their say
Childcare providers are rarely asked what they like or dislike about Childcare Voucher schemes. Accor Services surveyed this 'forgotten' audience and was delighted to discover that its voucher scheme is the one that childcare providers would most recommend.
Here, childcare providers offer a fascinating insight into how schemes could be improved to make life easier for them and parents alike.
There's no doubt that Childcare Vouchers are a big issue for nurseries, nannies and childminders. Accor Services received an overwhelming response to its recent on-line poll, with 1300 providers taking the time to give their feedback.
The survey confirmed that Childcare Vouchers are now a well-established method of payment, with 96.5 per cent of respondents willing to accept them. Indeed, childcare providers said that they now received vouchers as either full or partial payment from over 50 per cent of their parents.
Accor Services Childcare Vouchers were accepted by the highest number of survey participants (98.3 per cent), and were ranked highly by providers for ease of use and prompt payment. The majority of respondents said they were happy with the 'approachable and friendly' service they received from Accor Services and agreed that the company was quick to deal with any issues that might arise.
It was clear, however, that most nurseries, nannies and childminders were dealing not just with Accor Services - but often with a multitude of different providers. Perhaps surprisingly, it was not just the market leaders whose names cropped up in the poll - but a myriad of smaller, less well known voucher schemes too.
The need to deal with multiple voucher schemes was definitely causing childcare providers a significant degree of concern. Differing terms and conditions and systems for redemption were leading to more and more admin - and as a result some providers said they had made a conscious decision only to deal with a select few, well-established and efficient providers.
Reconciliation was the issue causing the most difficulty. Childcare providers said it was often very difficult to identify which payment was for which child when it arrived in their bank account. Sometimes, they might receive as many as three separate payments for one child - a voucher from the mother, a different voucher from the father, plus a top-up payment. Without proper referencing, the task of reconciliation could become a time consuming nightmare!
Accor Services was praised highly for its attempts to make this task easier by providing remittance advice slips as well as a payment reference. Childcare providers also said they liked being able to redeem vouchers on-line, as this meant they were paid more speedily.
Indeed, 63 per cent of respondents said they would recommend Accor Services Childcare Vouchers to colleagues or parents - the highest rating given to any voucher provider in the survey.
Product Manager, Lynne Keeble said: "Childcare providers are often treated as the 'poor relation' in the childcare circle - but we regard them as an important customer group whose needs have to be taken into consideration. This survey has given us an important insight into how our scheme can be further developed to make life easier for them - and there are some important messages for employers in there too.
Employers need to think, for example, about the impact their decisions - such as whether to offer paper or electronic vouchers - might have, not only on their employees but also childcare providers. They are an influential group and the relationship a parent has with their nursery or childminder is precious. If the care providers start telling parents the vouchers are making their life difficult, parents simply won't use them and the take-up rates on schemes will suffer. It's vital that we all work together to make life easier for both parents and childcare providers."
To find out more about Accor Services, you can request more information here.
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Registered office: Accor Services, 50 Vauxhall Bridge Road, London, SW1V 2RS The following trade under Accor Services & are registered in England
Childcare Vouchers: 2420196 Luncheon Vouchers: 540144 Cleanway: 1336372 VAT number: 649503520
©2007 Accor Services. The entire content of this newsletter publication is protected by copyright. Full details are available from Accor Services. All rights reserved. No part of this newsletter publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means - electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise - without the prior permission, in writing, of the copyright owner. Although every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this publication, the publisher cannot accept any liability for inaccuracies.
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