Child care tax programs and funds. The only cost to the employer for this IRS plan is its administration. Funds in the account can be used to reimburse employees for day care for children under 15 or for dependent care for another dependent of the employee who is mentally or physically unable to care for himself or herself. A child care fund provides reimbursement for child care expenses or payment directly to a child care provider. The 1199 Health and Human Services Union negotiated in 1989 for a child care fund which, by 1992, had been expanded to cover 168 hospitals and health care facilities and 39,000 members.
Employers contribute a percentage of gross payroll to the fund.
Benefits offered include cash vouchers for child care and after-school care, summer camp subsidies, child care resource and referral services, a holiday program, a cultural arts program and a child care center. Setting up a child care center is a costly and time-consuming process. The IAM District Lodge 751 and Boeing in Washington State, Wichita and Portland, Oregon, negotiated a pilot program to provide child care in near-site child care centers and through enhanced referral assistance. Families are charged on a sliding scale for use of the services. The employers contribute four cents per hour worked.