The top 5 benefits for working parents

The pitter patter of tiny feet.

Or perhaps it’s the thumping feet of a teenager running up and down the stairs. Whether you’re expecting a baby, have already been blessed with children or are planning to adopt, it’s important to know what means of support working parents have at their disposal.

As part of our popular ‘Top 5 series’, we’ve dived deep into our extensive benefit knowledge to give you our Top 5 benefits for working parents.

We’re all going on a summer holiday!

Well, sorry Sir Cliff Richard, but not everyone uses their annual leave to sun it up in the Med. Whether you’re looking to take the kids away during the school holidays, or simply want a few days to relax and reset while the kids are at school, Holiday Trading is the perfect benefit.

Typically, you can opt to purchase up to five extra days of annual leave on top of your contracted allowance. What’s better, you’ll even make tax and National Insurance savings on the trade, meaning a few extra pennies for that round of ice creams!

But what if I want to earn a few extra bob and save for a rainy day?

By selling any unwanted annual leave (be mindful that there is a limit to the amount of days you can sell too), your employer will pay you at the agreed daily rate for your working. This is of course subject to tax and National Insurance.

Either way, you can either choose to spend more time with the family or put some money aside for a weekend trip.

There are a number of methods you can take to fend off burnout and energise your life.

And I’m feeling good!

Every working parent needs to look after their health. The perfect wellbeing benefit, with Health Cash Plan you can recoup the cost of regular medical expenses such as optical, dental, therapy treatments and consultations.

There a different levels of cover to the benefit itself, but the good news is that children under a certain age are often covered by the policy for free. What’s more, some employers will actually provide this as a core benefit, so remember to check your online portal when you get the chance.

Money, Money, Money!

Must be funny, saving so much dough.

Arguably one of the most underrated benefits on the market, Discounts & Cashback is an incredibly popular choice for those that love to shop. Be it your weekly grocery order, that all-important family holiday or treating the kids to the latest gadget, you can secure discounts and even claim back a percentage of your spend into a pot for use on future purchases.

What’s more, you can even receive cashback on bigger household decisions, like switching broadband/tv providers.

Through Zest Marketplace, our customers have access to a number of Discount & Cashback providers, including:

Paylow

No more chasing subscriptions and bills!

Within a swift two-minute onboarding journey, users enter their email and select the bank account they wish to securely link to Paylow. They are immediately introduced to their personal subscription dashboard.

WPP

World Privilege Plus are the go to discount club, negotiating a great collection of premium and essential discounts designed to bring unparalleled savings to users.

What sets them apart? A focus on instant exclusive discounts that redefine the way members shop, explore, save and indulge, with up to 85% savings and discounts available.

Working 9-5!

Sorry Dolly Parton, your timeless classic now has little relevance for many in the working world.

Picture the scene. The summer months are upon us and school holidays are soon to kick in. Juggling a full-time job with the kids at home will arguably be tougher than old boots. Mx together the need for attention, trips to and from activities and the occasional snack (probably best to take it easy with the sugar), and you’ve got what looks like a recipe for disaster.

And if that’s not a cause for concern, then recent stats from HR News will certainly raise red flags:

• 45% of parents have experienced burn-out trying to do it all
• 53% have admitted they can’t properly concentrate on their job
• 40% have had to miss important meetings due to holiday childcare issues.

With hybrid and flexible working, you can make parenting and working blend together to get the best of both worlds. That could mean starting the day later and finishing later to take the kids to school, or working from home a few times a week to save on childcare.

The kids are alright.

If you’re not able to work from home, or just need a distraction-free day to get your head down on a big project, then childcare support is a great alternative to getting support with the little ones.

While some working mums and dads may still use the existing Childcare Vouchers scheme, we wanted to flag a number of our Marketplace providers that can help with emergency childcare or workplace nurseries.

Gogeta

Gogeta help you to enrich the physical, mental and financial health of your employees via innovative Cycle to Work and Workplace Nursery schemes.

Yurtle

Yurtle is an employee benefit provider helping companies to combat caregiver burnout and the associated productivity and employee turnover losses in the workplace. Their insurance cover and caregiver support app place care breakdown prevention at the core of our solution, spanning child, elder and specialised care.

You can also ‘benefit from a number of financial wellbeing selections.

Whether you need to keep an eye on the pennies, budgeting advice or tips on how to save more from your salary, there are plenty of educational tools and resources available.

Some financial wellbeing providers offered through Zest Marketplace include:

Money Guided

Money Guided is the AI-powered, digital financial assistant that helps your staff better understand and take control of their finances.

Maji

Maji’s affordable financial wellbeing and money management platform gives your employees personalised support to reduce stress, mental health challenges and absenteeism associated with money worries.

Hastee

Hastee help to stop employees relying on high-cost credit whether that is due to unexpected costs throughout the month, or ‘too much month at the end of their pay-cheque’ therefor giving them liquidity when most required; whether salaried or shift reliant. This is via a range of tools, including Earned Wage Access, a benefits calculator as well as financial education partnership with Nudge amongst others.

Keen to find out how we can improve your employee wellbeing proposition for working parents? Book a demo today and see how our technology can maximise your benefit offering.