Retailers Support Their Employees During Busiest Time of Year

[WATERTOWN, MASS., December 20, 2011] – It’s no surprise that the busiest time of year for shoppers can also be the most stressful time of year for retail industry employees who keep stores open late and make sure last minute gifts are shipped. To support those employees and make it possible for them to get to work, many retailers have turned to Bright Horizons Family Solutions® for back-up child care.

According to the National Retail Federation, the holiday season can represent between 25 and 40 percent of annual sales for retailers. In 2010, holiday sales amounted to 19.4 percent of total retail industry sales. This holiday season, Bright Horizons back-up care and its Back-Up Care Advantage Program® will help retailers to achieve their sales goals by relieving the stress their employees feel as they work to meet the holiday rush and their regular family responsibilities like caring for children or elderly relatives.

Bright Horizons provides back-up care services for dozens of retailers, including Target, Lands’ End, GAP, and Ann Taylor and LOFT. Bright Horizons also provides back-up care for more than 350 other leading employers representing millions of workers in every sector of our economy.

“Companies, especially retailers, ask a lot of their employees during the holiday season. Our clients recognize that their employees can’t be productive if they are worried about who is taking care of their children. By offering back-up child care, employers can show their gratitude to working parents by alleviating one less stress during the holiday season and making sure they have access to reliable, quality child care,” said David Lissy, Chief Executive Officer of Bright Horizons.

Back-up care is provided as an employee benefit. With just one phone call, employees from these companies can find a child care center, or in-home provider to care for their children when school is closed or their regular caregiver is unavailable. Care is also available for elderly relatives of the employees.

A recent study released by Horizons Workforce Consulting at Bright Horizons (www.brighthorizons.com/Resources/Brochure/lasting-impact-child-care), confirms that back-up care helps both the employer
and the employee, with 86 percent of respondents reporting that in the previous six months, back-up care enabled them to work on a day they otherwise would not have been able to and on average, back-up care enabled them to work six days during that time.

Media Contact:

Liz Kennedy
857.294.9861
elizabeth.kennedy@brighthorizons.com