If you are working, ask your employer about childcare help they could offer. There are some good reasons why more and more employers are looking at their employees' childcare needs and trying to find ways to help.

Employers rely upon parents as part of their work force and they need you to be able to concentrate on your work without worrying about your children while you are there. Parents with safe, secure, high quality childcare arrangements that they can afford are:

• less likely to be worrying about their children while they work
• more likely to come back to work after maternity leave more likely
  to stay in work as their
• children grow up.

The Government's National Childcare Strategies for Scotland and England encourage employers to get involved in childcare and help their employees out.

What could my employer do?

Any childcare help that your employer offers is likely to be part of a range of work-life balance policies designed to help you balance your work with the rest of your life.

Your employer must provide you with:

• maternity leave of at least 18 weeks
• extended maternity leave of up to 29 weeks if you have worked
  with your employer for at least one year
• unpaid parental leave of up to 13 weeks subject to one year's service
• the right to limit your working hours to less than 48 hours per week
• four weeks' paid annual leave
• the right to rest breaks.

Your employer could provide you with:

• childcare help
• flexible work options like term time work, flexi-hours, part-time work or jobshare
• leave options, like extended maternity leave or paternity leave for fathers around the time babies are born.

Ask your employer or trade union representative for more information on these work-life balance options.

What kind of childcare help could be offered?

Childcare help could include:

• childcare information to help you find out more about your childcare options
• contribution to childcare costs, through childcare allowances or Childcare Vouchers
• provision of childcare services for employees, which could be a playscheme or a nursery of a childminding network, often run in partnership with other employers or local authorities.

Who could get help?

You should ask your personnel department, line manager or employer if any childcare help is offered and how it is allocated. You could also ask your trade union representative for advice.

What if my employer is not able to help with childcare?

If your employer does not offer help now, they may be keen to look at what you need and listen to your views. So it is worth discussing options with them.

How can the National Childcare Strategies for Scotland and England help employers to help you?

The Government is keen to encourage employers to help out with childcare.

The National Childcare Strategies for Scotland and England should make it easier for employers to get information to enable them to help their employees with childcare:

• the childcare tax credit in Working Families' Tax Credit and Disabled
  Person's Tax Credit will help some employees to pay for childcare
• the Early Years Development and Childcare Partnerships are there to plan
  new and improved childcare services in your area. They must consult with parents and employers and look for ways to help employers get involved in childcare
• the Children's Information Service in your area is there to help you find out
  about your childcare options and could help your employer by offering special services for their employees.

Finding out more

• Ask your employer for information about their work-life balance policies
  and what childcare help they provide.
• Talk to your local Children's Information Service (CIS) – they might tell you
  more about employers who offer these policies in your area. The ChildcareLink
  freephone service will provide details of your local CIS on 08000 960296
• If you, or your employer, want to find out more you may wish to contact
  one of the following organisations:

Daycare Trust New Ways to Work
Shoreditch Town Hall
309 Upper Street
380 Old Street London N1 2TY
London EC1V 9LT
Tel: 020 7354 2978
Tel: 020 7739 2866

Parents at Work
5th floor
45 Beech Street
London EC2Y 8AP
Tel: 020 7628 3565

Further information on the Government's work-life balance campaign
can be found at www.dti.gov.uk/work-lifebalance