Parental Leave Transitions
7% returner retention without coaching. 92% with it.
The average UK enterprise replaces 38 returners a year at an average cost of £45,000 each — a £1.7m line nobody puts in their workforce plan because nobody calculates it.
What is Parental Leave Transitions?
Parental Leave Transitions is a structured coaching programme delivered across three stages of the parental leave journey — announcement, leave, and the first six months back. Each stage is supported by a dedicated coach for the parent and, critically, a separate coach for the line manager. Almost all returner attrition happens in stage three. Almost all of it is preventable.
Adoption & utilisation
87%
employee utilisation rate (Citi)
Source: MFI 2026, n=3,200
3 min
average booking time via the app
Source: MFI 2026, n=3,200
94%
of bookings fulfilled same-day
Source: MFI 2026, n=3,200
How it works
01
Sees what's available where they live
One tap from the company app or intranet. No new account, no HR ticket, no password to remember..
02
A home screen personalised to life stage
Pregnancy, returning to work, school years, eldercare.
03
Book, register, or learn — in minutes
Back-Up Care: under 4 minutes. Nursery enrolment: a tour booking. Workshop registration: one tap..
04
Help for the hard moments, content for the rest
Live advisor access for the difficult conversations hospital admissions, leaving school, returning from leave..
Features
Content 1
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Content 2
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Content 3
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Frequently Asked Questions
Your Bright Horizons Back-Up Care benefit offers a safety net of care options should you experience a breakdown in your usual arrangements.
As well as back-up childcare options, you may also have adult/elder back-up care, please check your programme on your benefit platform or speak to your HR consultant to check what’s available.
Care options include:
Back-Up Childcare
- Nursery care for children up to 5 years.
- Holiday clubs/camps during the school holidays.
- In-home care with a nanny
- Local, trusted childminders.
Back-Up Adult & Eldercare (if offered by employer)
- In-home care with an adult care worker for adult dependants aged 18 years or over.
- Personal support for yourself, or for your partner – for example if either of you are getting over an operation or accident.
- Respite care to give you a break and offer support with any adult caring responsibilities.
A: All permanent UK employees are eligible to use this programme.
A: Your children, including adopted, foster and stepchildren (up to 17 years), and if your programme includes adult and eldercare, it will also cover any adult (over 18 years) for whom you have caring responsibilities, including adult children, spouses, parents, grandparents, in-laws, and yourself.
A: Your programme specific details can be found on your benefit platform once you register for the benefit.
There is a four-hour minimum for all types of care.
A: Yes. The Back-Up Care programme is designed to help you should you experience a dependent care emergency. The care consultant will begin sourcing care for you as soon as your request is received, even if this is during the night, but will typically not be able to confirm the arrangements until the childcare centres or in-home care agencies open for business, usually at 7.30am the next day.
A: This is dependent on your specific program, please check on your benefit platform for details.
A: If an employee contribution is required, you will pay this at the time of booking by means of either a credit or a debit card. No deduction will be made until after the care has taken place. depending on the type of care that has been booked. More information is detailed below in relation to this.
A: Yes, however we may need to seek approval from your employer.
A: Yes, you can use the back-up care benefit for work purposes. This can be particularly useful for Keeping in Touch (KIT) days.
How a similar organisation solved this
Citi
Financial Services / 12,000 employees ● 5 min read
A FTSE 100 bank stopped losing returners. The lever was childcare, not policy.
Three years in, attrition among new parents is down 41% and engagement scores are up across the board. Here's what changed — and what didn't.
224% ROI in year one
Marsh
Legal / 800 employees ● 5 min read
“We were haemorrhaging mid-level associates. Back-up care was the turning point."
A Magic Circle firm explains why same-day cover did what flexible working policies couldn't — and how they made the business case in a single quarter.
224% ROI in year one
Get in touch
