Herbert Smith has launched a fully-funded emergency childcare and eldercare service to help staff balance their work and home life.
The service assists the law firm's staff in locating and paying for nursery places, childminders and nannies at short notice. They can also source emergency care for elderly dependants to help with tasks such as cooking meals, shopping, lifting in and out of beds and house sitting both day and night.
To access the care, employees must register online at www.myfamilycare.co.uk before they can use the scheme, giving details of their dependant's needs so that the right type of care can be sourced in the shortest possible time in the event of an emergency. Staff can then book online or by phone if their existing carer becomes unavailable.
The definition of 'emergency' is decided on a case-by-case basis by the law firm. Norman Green, chief operating officer, said: "We decided to offer this service following extensive consultation with staff who wanted the safety net of an easy-to-access emergency service if their own arrangements fell through."
