What we can offer you

Childcare Vouchers

If you are a parent and pay for childcare, how do you fancy receiving up to six weeks free childcare a year?

Hampshire County Council’s staff benefit, childcare vouchers, has been introduced as part of the Pay & Benefits Project, and could save eligible employees up to £1196pa (subject to individual circumstances).

The scheme allows you to give up part of your salary in exchange for childcare vouchers.  Income tax and National Insurance contributions are not due on the part of the salary given up.  Eligible employees can receive up to £243 worth of childcare vouchers per month (depending on individual circumstances) and the vouchers can be used to pay for registered childcare.

Employee eligibility

The scheme is open to all employees of Hampshire County Council, however some employees will be ineligible to join the scheme due to legal constraints outside of Hampshire County Council’s control. These employees are those for whom the salary sacrifice would reduce their pay (hourly rate) after sacrifice to below the National Minimum Wage.

The scheme is not available to casual or agency staff, including supply teachers, because they are not employees of Hampshire County Council.

Employees who are employed on a temporary contract may join the childcare voucher scheme if they have at least twelve months of their contract remaining when they join the scheme.

Calculation of eligibility will be based on contractual salary, as the salary sacrifice is a long term commitment. Overtime, additional hours and similar payments cannot be included for this purpose. Pay received for supply teaching in addition to contractual pay cannot be used in calculating eligibility.

Qualifying childcare

Childcare vouchers provided under the Hampshire County Council scheme may only be used to pay for OFSTED registered childcare, including childminders, nurseries and play schemes, out-of-hours schemes approved by the local authority, or other appropriate childcare arrangements as detailed by the Inland Revenue.

Hampshire County Council’s childcare vouchers provider - Busy Bees - will check that childcare providers have the appropriate registration.

Qualifying children

The child/children for whose care the vouchers are used must be:

• either a child or stepchild of the employee and maintained wholly or partly at the employee’s expense
• or a child who lives with the employee and for whom the employee has ‘parental responsibility’.

Parental responsibility is defined as:

“having the same legal rights, duties, powers, responsibilities and authority as parents in respect of a child and the child’s property” (Inland Revenue)

This is applicable to children up to the 1st September following their 15th birthday, or 1st September following their 16th birthday for a disabled child.

Amount of vouchers you can purchase

Employees joining the scheme may obtain vouchers up to the maximum value set by central government for tax and national insurance savings.  As at April 2006, this value is £55 per week or £243 per month.