Cancellation of childcare

It's an issue for all parents: What to do if childcare is suddenly unavailable and a solution needs to be found quickly? Who steps in if the grandparents are not spontaneously available and relatives or neighbors don't have time? Employers can also help parents with various measures and offers. We have put together some options for emergency childcare that you can negotiate with your boss.

You don't always have to take leave to ensure your child is looked after. Today, mobile working and working from home are the norm in many companies. The option of working from home or being able to flexibly adjust working hours in emergencies is a great help for parents: they can stay at home with their child at short notice without having to look for extra childcare.

Some arrangements can also be made when it comes to working hours: Shift models, flexitime and flexdays as well as the reduction of overtime help you to react flexibly to sudden situations. For example, you can take individual flexitime days in an emergency and use flexitime differently by starting earlier and going home earlier, preferably staggered with your partner.

But there's more: long-term accounts can be used to absorb fluctuations by reducing overtime or subsequently compensating for minus hours.

And what if childcare is unavailable for a longer period of time? Then you should clarify with your employer whether you can flexibly adjust your hours or even take (unpaid) special leave.

Taking your child to work with you can be a possible short-term solution in some industries. However, certain conditions must be met:

• Your employer must agree.
• The line of work and the workplace must be suitable; in construction or laboratories, for example, this option is not an option.
• Your child must be supervised and no one must feel disturbed.
• If necessary, the insurance issue must be clarified and it must be checked whether the public liability insurance will cover any damage.

The same applies here: if the general conditions allow it, clarify with your employer whether they agree to such a solution. Perhaps there is even a playroom available in the company.

Do you have several colleagues with children working in your company and do you often have to spontaneously reorganize childcare? Perhaps there is an opportunity to get together and look around for in-house services with the support of your employer. External professional babysitters who can step in are an alternative. Suitable childcare services can often be found on the internet. In larger cities, the Notmütterdienst association can arrange substitute mothers.

In principle, it is advisable not to start looking when the need suddenly arises, but to gather contacts and make arrangements in advance. To ensure that parents know directly who they can contact within the company in urgent cases, it is a good idea to set up a "family service" within the company. A family service can also help to build a network within the company in which parents can support each other.