Recently, the cost of health care has risen to over $2.5 trillion and is projected to increase, on average, 6.1 percent per year until 2019. These costs have also risen for employers who pay for their employees' health plans.
Rates are rising due to employees' family members also becoming ill. This forces employees to use more money and potentially miss work when a family member is sick. An ill child can take a toll not only on the parents, but the company they work for.
The Cost of Unscheduled Absenteeism
The average annual cost for a company due to unscheduled employee absenteeism is estimated to be over $760,000. These unplanned absences include personal days, or days one must stay home to care for an ill child.
Loss of productivity and administrative costs are the main issues when it comes to these missed days. The extra work is then taken on by other workers, or less-effective replacements, therefore causing a loss of efficiency in the company. Also, these replacements cost the company extra money, or the company needs to pay another employee overtime for their service. Unplanned absences are responsible for 21 percent of productivity loss per year versus 15 percent for those absences that were previously planned.
Sick Child Care Helps Avoid Unscheduled Absences
A possible solution for companies to avoid spending an overabundance of money on these absences, would be to offer sick child care. These services are becoming more popular among businesses. Placing a child care program in a business has an immense impact on the company's expenditure. When a child care assistance program is in place, the company spends less money than if the parent were absent from work. This type of program can have an enormous impact on a company and may be worth the investment.