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Employer Roadmap
Every year in Michigan, the lack of reliable and affordable childcare costs our economy $2.88 billion in lost productivity, earnings, and business revenue. When parents cannot find consistent care, companies lose valuable employees, experience higher turnover, and face reduced output. Across the country, the total economic loss reaches $122 billion annually. The impact is clear: when childcare doesn’t work, the workforce doesn’t work.
Why Now
Childcare challenges are affecting employers today in ways that are impossible to ignore. Families are struggling to find reliable, affordable care, and these challenges directly influence how often employees can show up, stay focused, and remain in the workforce long term. When childcare breaks down, businesses feel the impact through lost productivity, missed shifts, and higher turnover.
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Across Michigan and the United States, a shortage of childcare options is limiting workforce participation. Employers are already seeing the effects in recruiting, retention, and daily operations. Taking action now can strengthen stability for your employees and help your organization build a more resilient and dependable workforce.
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This roadmap is designed to help you understand what is possible and choose the steps that fit your workplace. Even small actions can create meaningful change for working parents and support your long term business goals.
Building a Stronger Workforce Starts Here
Effective strategies begin with insight. Understand your workforce’s reality, quantify the ROI for your company, and bring others on board before moving to solutions.
Make this roadmap work for you​
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Explore your options. Learn about employer-tested strategies that address childcare challenges.
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Identify your next step. Use our interactive resources to find the right approach for your workplace.
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Take action. Connect with local partners and implement solutions that strengthen retention, productivity, and morale.
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Together, we can make Michigan a better place to work and raise a family.
Use these tools to help determine challenges
Working Family Support
SUPPORTING WORKING FAMILIES
Many existing organizations and programs are designed to help working families access affordable, quality childcare. Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) and Employer Resource Networks (ERN®) provide structured ways to share vetted resources, referrals, and information with employees. These tools give organizations a clear method to gather feedback while offering a low-cost or no-cost support system for working parents.
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At the same time, using EAPs and ERNs helps create a sense of community and connection for employees. Parents can share experiences, support one another, and feel that their needs are understood and valued. Even small efforts to link families to reliable resources can strengthen trust, improve morale, and signal that the organization genuinely cares about the well-being of its workforce.
Identify the current situation
Begin by assessing the resources currently available to working families within your organization. Determine whether these supports are being used effectively and whether your EAP program includes clear information about them. Reviewing employee feedback through the survey link below can help you better understand real needs and challenges. If applicable, confirm whether your organization is already part of an Employer Resource Network and how well it is functioning.
Build Upon Existing Efforts
After understanding your baseline, look for ways to strengthen what you already offer. Updating or expanding your EAP’s ability to share resources can ensure families receive timely, relevant information. Partnering with your EAP provider to explore enhanced tools or services signals to employees that their needs are important and that the organization is committed to continuous improvement.
Expand resources
Consider offering employees access to an expanded range of family supports, including childcare options, subsidy programs, and parenting resources. Regularly reviewing these offerings ensures they remain responsive to evolving needs. These additional supports not only address practical challenges but also help employees feel valued, understood, and supported as both caregivers and team members.
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Working Family Support
FLEXIBLE SCHEDULING
Many companies of all sizes are adopting flexible work schedules to help parents manage childcare needs and respond to unexpected changes throughout the day. Flexible scheduling allows employees to shift their work hours or workdays, often at little cost to the organization. Several low-resource strategies can be used to introduce flexibility while maintaining core operations.
Beyond easing day-to-day challenges, offering flexibility can positively shape workplace culture. Employees often feel more supported, trusted, and valued when they are given the ability to balance work and family responsibilities. This sense of understanding can strengthen morale and long-term retention.
Before implementing changes, evaluate how flexible scheduling options will affect staffing needs, safety requirements, operating hours, and other essential business functions. Thoughtful planning ensures flexibility benefits both the organization and the families it serves.
Assess your working families’ needs
Start by collecting data on childcare-related scheduling disruptions and speaking directly with working parents. These conversations offer both measurable insight and personal perspective, helping you understand the challenges families face and shaping policies that truly support them.
Talk to your operations team and line managers
Work closely with operations staff and frontline managers to determine where flexibility is feasible. Their practical experience helps identify what can be adjusted without affecting staffing, safety, or service standards. Including them in the process ensures policies feel realistic and supported on the ground.
Find out where there is flexibility in the business
Review schedules with line managers to pinpoint opportunities for flexibility, whether through specific days, hours, time blocks, predictive scheduling, or shift-swap options. You may discover solutions you hadn’t considered. Engage teams already using flexible models to explore how their strategies could be replicated or scaled.
Implement and communicate
Once you determine how flexibility can be introduced, create a clear implementation plan. Begin communication at the leadership level, then cascade details to employees so everyone understands the changes, expectations, and benefits.
Track the impact
Monitor missed shifts related to childcare challenges and gather regular employee feedback to understand how well the new policies are working. Consider coding shifts or using scheduling notes to track when parents adjust hours due to childcare needs. Ongoing evaluation keeps the system responsive and effective.
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Working Family Support
BACKUP CARE
Last-minute childcare disruptions can significantly affect an employee’s ability to show up and be productive. These challenges are frequent yet often overlooked, even though the solution is relatively simple. Providing access to backup childcare offers immediate relief for working parents and helps reduce short-term absenteeism across the organization.
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The cost of offering backup care varies based on the size of the need, the availability of providers, and local factors such as geography, union requirements, or labor regulations. Because every community is different, employers should explore both local and national options to find a program that fits their workforce. Taking this step not only addresses a practical issue but also shows employees that the organization understands and supports the realities of balancing work and family.
Assess the needs of your working parents
Look at how unexpected childcare disruptions affect your business from a continuity standpoint. Identify which roles experience the most interruptions, how often these situations occur, and the operational cost of last-minute absences. Have direct conversations with working parents to understand what types of emergency care would genuinely help them.
Talk to your operations team and line managers
Work with managers to understand how unplanned absences are currently handled. Explore the impact on project timelines, service quality, safety, and team workload when someone must leave suddenly or cannot report to work. This will help clarify where backup care could prevent operational strain.
Find your partners and understand your options
Research available backup care programs ranging from in-home providers to licensed centers and national partners that specialize in emergency or short-notice childcare. Evaluate each option for reliability during peak business hours, credentialing standards, capacity during high-demand seasons, and alignment with your workforce’s unique needs.
Decide and implement
Determine the level of financial support your organization can provide and select the partner or program that best fits your workforce. Launch the system with clear guidelines on how employees can request backup care, what situations qualify, and what the employer will subsidize or cover.
Monitor stability and adjust support
Monitor how often backup care is used, what types of crises trigger usage, and how its availability affects attendance and reliability. Gather feedback from parents to understand the real impact on their stress levels and ability to stay focused at work. Review trends to adjust the program as your workforce evolves.
Working Family Support
FINANCIAL SOLUTIONS
Affordability is one of the most significant barriers to childcare for working families and often becomes a barrier to sustained employment. A 2020 survey of 1,000 working parents found that 73 percent were considering major changes at work because the cost of care was too high. When families struggle to afford childcare, it affects attendance, retention, and long-term career stability.
Employers can help reduce this burden by offering vouchers or subsidies that make childcare more accessible. Vouchers can be directed to employer-approved providers or given directly to parents, allowing them to choose the care setting that best fits their family. Subsidies enable employers to reserve childcare spots nearby and offset costs for enrolled employees. These models increase access to high-quality programs and offer families more predictability and choice.
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The cost of implementing a voucher or subsidy program depends on the level of need across the workforce. Provider availability will vary by location, and some voucher structures may be shaped by labor agreements or union considerations. With thoughtful planning, however, this option can significantly strengthen family stability, support employee retention, and expand access to reliable care.
Assess the current need
Learn which childcare arrangements your working parents use and why those choices were made. Speak directly with families to understand the financial pressures they face and what type of support would make the most meaningful difference. Clarify the metrics you want to track and how you will evaluate progress.
Check childcare voucher and subsidy regulations
Review the childcare assistance programs offered by the State of Michigan to determine whether any employees may already qualify for existing support. This helps you avoid duplicating benefits and ensures your efforts complement state resources.
Understand your options
Vouchers support employee choice by allowing parents to select licensed providers that fit their needs. Subsidies can reduce the cost of care while also reserving slots at nearby childcare centers. Both approaches can expand access to high quality care and may qualify your business for tax incentives. Use local referral agencies to learn about licensed providers, program quality, and availability. Consider how vouchers or subsidies can help direct families toward reliable, high quality options.
Decide and implement
Choose the structure that fits your organization. You may reserve childcare slots for guaranteed access, help reduce tuition costs, or provide vouchers directly to employees. Establish eligibility guidelines and a clear process for participation before launching the benefit.
Communicate
Develop a communication plan that explains how the benefit works, who is eligible, and why your organization chose to offer this type of support. Clear messaging helps increase participation and builds trust.
Track the impact
Monitor how often the benefit is used and gather feedback from working parents. Evaluate how the program influences recruitment, retention, and absenteeism. Use these insights to refine the benefit and ensure it continues to meet the needs of your workforce.
Working Family Support
ONSITE CARE
Onsite childcare offers one of the most convenient solutions for working parents. Families save travel time, children are close by if needed, and parents have access to consistent, reliable care. An onsite program can improve access, support affordability, and ensure that children are in a high quality environment. Employers can run the center themselves or partner with a licensed childcare provider to manage daily operations.
Although onsite care can be a powerful benefit, it requires a considerable financial investment and a long planning period, often taking up to 18 months to design and open. It can also be difficult to provide equitable access when employees work across multiple locations. In some areas, demand for childcare may exceed capacity, and smaller communities may have fewer provider partners available than large metropolitan regions.
Assess your working parents’ needs
Identify the number of families who would rely on onsite care and estimate projected enrollment. Learn who your working parents are, what ages of children they have, and what schedules they would need. Clarify what information you must collect and how you will access it so you can determine the true scope of demand.
Create a cross-functional task force
Form a planning group that represents HR, Finance, Tax, Operations, Legal, Compliance, IT, Security, Facilities, and Supply Chain. Onsite care affects many parts of the organization, so decisions should be viewed from multiple angles. If projected demand is higher than available capacity, decide how your organization will prioritize enrollment.
Do your homework
Research the regulatory, financial, and infrastructure requirements for onsite care. Your state’s lead agency and local Child Care Resource and Referral office can identify licensed providers, contractors, and architects who understand childcare standards. Explore available subsidies, quality or facility improvement grants, potential partnerships with other employers, and tax incentives that could support the project.
Build and launch
Secure the required permits, design the space, and begin construction or renovation. Ensure the building layout, security, staffing plan, and equipment meet all licensing and safety requirements. Partner with a qualified provider if you do not plan to operate the center internally.
Track the impact
Monitor enrollment levels, daily usage, and family satisfaction. Create a system for parents to share feedback regularly. Evaluate how onsite care influences recruitment, retention, absenteeism, and employee morale. Use this information to adjust policies, improve operations, or expand capacity if needed.
Working Family Support
PUBLIC ADVOCACY
Public advocacy can play an important role in expanding access to affordable, high quality childcare. When employers engage at the local, state, or federal level, they help bring attention to the challenges working families face and support broader solutions that benefit entire communities. Advocacy efforts can strengthen the childcare system beyond the walls of your organization and create long lasting improvements that support workforce participation.
Taking part in public advocacy is a long term commitment, but it can elevate your brand, demonstrate industry leadership, and show that your organization cares about the well being of working families. Many employers choose to partner with existing childcare coalitions or business associations to coordinate efforts. It is important to understand that advocacy may also draw attention to your childcare policies and investments, so planning and communication should be approached thoughtfully.
Identify key influencers
Work with your state and local chamber government relations teams to learn who the main decision makers are. Elected officials, policy staff, and local or state advocacy organizations can become strong partners in advancing childcare solutions.
Learn the landscape
Understand how childcare is funded, regulated, and supported in the areas where you want to engage. Review current policy agendas or legislative efforts that relate to access, cost, or quality. Identify where your organization can support or add value.
Build grassroots support
Invite working parents, supervisors, and partners in your supply chain to join the advocacy effort. Engaging families and community members can strengthen your message and provide real world perspectives that resonate with policymakers.
Determine your advocacy agenda
Clarify what you want to achieve through public advocacy. Identify the specific issues, goals, or policy changes you want to support and consider how these align with other public priorities your organization cares about.
Develop a strategy for advocacy
Explore opportunities to collaborate with other employers, chambers of commerce, or industry groups to increase your reach. Connect with existing coalitions that are already active in childcare policy. Gain a clear understanding of budget timelines, legislative priorities, and public agendas so you can align your efforts. Make sure parent voices are included throughout your strategy.
Maximize your impact
Look for ways to deepen your influence by continuing to partner with employers, chambers, and community organizations. Share parent stories, employee experiences, and data that illustrate the importance of childcare access. Use these insights to strengthen your advocacy and support meaningful change.
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Working Family Support
Expand Community Capacity
Expanding childcare capacity within the community benefits families, employers, and local providers. When more high quality childcare options are available, the entire workforce gains stability and access. One effective approach is shared services, where providers collaborate to combine administrative functions such as HR, accounting, training, and purchasing. This allows childcare professionals to focus more of their time on delivering high quality care instead of managing back office responsibilities.
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Employers can play an important role in strengthening these community partnerships. Contributions may include staff expertise, donated services, materials, or financial support that helps providers build capacity. Participation in shared service alliances can create long term benefits for families and contribute to a more reliable childcare system across the region.
Identify shared services alliance in your area
Research whether any shared services alliances operate in your community and learn which childcare programs participate in them. If your employees already rely on providers within an alliance, this can help you understand where support will have the greatest impact.
Identify opportunities for support
Learn what local childcare providers need in order to strengthen quality and expand capacity. Consider how your organization can assist through staff expertise, shared resources, donated services, or financial support. Explore how enabling shared services alliances can help improve childcare quality and increase available supply. Look into opportunities for philanthropic partners to contribute to this effort.
Participate and contribute
Offer your organization’s time, skills, or resources to advance the goals of the alliance. This work can also serve as a communication opportunity to highlight the value of childcare to your workforce and community. Encourage childcare providers to participate in the local business community and connect them with regional chambers or small business networks.
Track your impact
Evaluate how your involvement influences childcare availability and quality in your community. Consider how these improvements support your workforce and identify where additional assistance or collaboration may be useful in the future.