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Understanding the importance of providing employees with programs to help them meet the challenges of their work and personal responsibilities, Citi offers several kinds of quality child care solutions to help employees succeed. In fact, Citi is one of Working Mother magazine's "100 Best Companies for Working Mothers." Our programs include:
- 10 full-time child care centers and 12 back-up care centers, on or near-site in 5 countries
- More than 500 work locations served by Just in Time Care in 28 U.S. states
- 119,000 employees covered by subsidized programs for full-time care, back-up care, before- and after-school care, summer or school holiday programs
- Child care discounts in place nationally in the U.S.
- Dependent care subsidies for eligible employees
In July 2007 Citi opened a full-time child care facility at our Jacksonville, FL location. The Center primarily serves the needs of more than 4,300 employees at the worksite and has the capacity to care for 440 children daily. The facility features a music room, library, water park, art study with pottery kiln and a full-service kitchen with a nutritious food program.
In March 2007, Citi's first non-U.S. full-time child care center opened in Sydney, Australia. Located just two blocks from our office, the Center has the capacity to accommodate 50 children from six weeks to five years of age.
Most recently, on January 4, 2008, Citi opened the Citi Kids Garden in our Citigroup Center offices in Tokyo, Japan. The Center is open until 10 p.m. each workday and is available to employees with pre-school children.
Our Belief
Choosing the right child care option is one of the most difficult and important decisions parents will make for their children. Every parent wants to provide the best quality care available. That is why Citi provides several innovative resources to help parents find and choose the right child care option for them. When our employees are comfortable with their child care programs and providers, we know they are more productive and satisfied at work.
With 370,000 employees around the world, Citi does not take a one-size-fits-all approach to child care – different locations and different communities have different needs. The staff dedicated to this function works hard to help employees find the child care solution that is best for them, based on their needs and the care available in their community.
The LifeWorks® Program
(Available to all employees in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico.)
The LifeWorks program is available to help employees with information, consultations, and referrals on a wide range of life issues. Employees can receive professional, informed advice on how to choose the right child care option, what specific child care is currently available, how to communicate with child care providers and how to plan for back-up care. Consultants will also research the options of available care in an employee's community. LifeWorks offers information on other topics of interest to all employees, ranging from pregnancy and adoption to elder care and writing a living will. An 800 number for this service is available to employees 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
LifeWorks Online is also available from work or home. Employees and their families can e-mail a question, download articles and tip sheets, and order free materials on topics as varied as managing change to elder care safety. Employees can access LifeWorks Online through Citi's Intranet or from home via LifeWorks' Internet address.
Research and referral programs similar to LifeWorks are available to employees in Australia, Ireland, the UK, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland and Germany.
Other Child Care Supports Include:
Child Care Discounts
(Available to employees in the U.S.)
Citi employees are eligible for discounts on tuition at community-based KinderCare Learning Centers around the U.S. The discounts are part of Citi's efforts to expand the availability of affordable dependent care programs for employees.
Typically, Citi employees are eligible for a 10% weekly discount off the cost of full-time, part-time or drop-in tuition rates in preschool through school-age classrooms.
Employees can access information on this program at work through Citi's Intranet or the internet.
On-Site and Near-Site Full-Time Child Care
Citi's decision to offer on-site child care or other types of child care support depends on our business needs in individual communities. For instance, Citi has conducted needs analyses at various business locations. This analysis helps determine what type of child care support is needed. The demographics of our employee population and the availability of quality child care in the community are some of the factors considered when we evaluate on- or near-site child care support. Full-time care centers currently exist in Florida, South Dakota, Maryland, Nevada, Missouri, and Texas in the U.S., and in Sydney Australia and Tokyo, Japan.
Just In Time Care Program
(Available in certain businesses.)
Citi's Just in Time Care is a service that supports and guides employees when their normal care provider is not available and will help reduce the cost of back-up care for children ages 12 and under. The service is also available to assist with back-up care for older family members.
Citi will subsidize 80% of the cost of the back-up care an employee chooses, up to $300 a year per family for child care (and up to an additional $300 a year per family for elder care).
Whether an employee's child is mildly ill, their child care provider is sick, or school is closed, Just in Time Care offers a flexible, convenient and affordable back-up solution. The service is available in participating businesses in 28 states.
Enrollment is required. Representatives are available 365 days a year from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern Time through an 800 number. A 24-hour message center is also available.
On-Site Back-up Child Care
Back-up child care is provided on-site at several locations around the country. Two on-site centers are located in New York City and one in Warren, NJ.
Back-up care is also available at Citi's full-time care centers.
Consortium Memberships
In three metropolitan areas, our employees' child care needs are served by 9 near-site centers, owned and operated by child care organizations in which Citi purchases memberships. Back-up care is available to employees at consortium centers in New York City, Jersey City, New Jersey, Dublin, Ireland, and London, UK.
School Holiday Program
(Available in certain businesses.)
Parents of schoolchildren are often faced with the need to identify back-up care on school holidays on which Citi is open but local schools are closed. Citi provides special programs to meet this need, in addition to the back-up programs already described. Stand-alone school holiday programs are offered at Citi's Jacksonville, Florida, New Castle, Delaware and Long Island City, New York sites. Additionally the New Castle, Delaware site runs a snow day program on days when local schools are closed due to snow emergencies, and a program during the summer.
Dependent Care Spending Account (DCSA) and the DCSA Subsidy
To help offset the high costs of quality child and elder care, all eligible Citi employees can use the DCSA to set aside pre-tax income to pay for dependent care expenses. Employees can enjoy significant tax savings by contributing up to $5,000 annually, before taxes, to their DCSA. In addition, Citi will subsidize up to 30% of an employee's total compensation and the amount of their contribution to the DCSA, if they meet certain salary and household income eligibility requirements. These programs are available during benefits enrollment or within 31 days of a qualified family status event. Information on this program is available to employees at work through Citi's Intranet.
As of February 2008