Workplace nursery partnerships: Your questions answered

If you're exploring workplace nursery partnerships for your team, you probably have questions. How do they work? What's the setup like? Are they complicated to run?

We've answered the most common questions from HR managers below. If you don't see your question here, get in touch—we're happy to help.

Do I need an on-site nursery?

No. You partner with commercial nurseries in your area or near where your employees live.

The tax exemption for workplace nurseries has explicitly allowed this partnership model since it was introduced in 1990. Your provider ensures you meet the partnership conditions through proper agreements and documentation.

This means employees can use nurseries that work for them—close to home, close to work, or wherever makes sense for their family.

What happens when employees' childcare needs change?

With flexible providers, employees can adjust arrangements quickly.

Unlike other providers, Gogeta doesn't require nurseries or parents to confirm fees in advance. The salary sacrifice every month is driven by the actual nursery bill, so there's no issue if a parent needs more or less childcare.

Life changes. Childcare needs shift. Your provider should make it easy to adapt.

What does this cost employers?

Costs depend on the provider you choose.

With Gogeta, there's no cost to employers. You also save on employer National Insurance on the salary sacrifice amount, which makes the benefit better than cost neutral.

As part of the partnership conditions, employers make an additional financial contribution to nursery partners—12.5% of parents' nursery bills. This is cost neutral due to the NIC savings, so you're not out of pocket.

How much admin does this create for HR teams?

Very little with the right provider.

Gogeta handles partnership agreements, nursery relationships and platform administration. After initial setup, all HR teams need to do is approve applications and make payroll adjustments.

As part of the partnership conditions, employees using the benefit are responsible for managing the nursery's use of the additional financial contribution from the employer. Gogeta oversees this on behalf of employers, and everything is recorded and tracked in your employer portal for reporting purposes.

Can employees use any registered nursery?

Employees can use any OFSTED nursery as long as they are registered with the provider. The best workplace nursery partnerships include hundreds of nurseries across the UK. 

What are the tax implications?

Employers save on employer National Insurance on the salary sacrifice amount. Parents save tax and National Insurance on their nursery bill. For the tax exemption to apply, the partnership conditions must be met. Research providers that have the most robust partnership conditions. 

How long does setup take?

This depends on the provider.

With Gogeta, you can be up and running in 24 hours. Employees can start saving by their next nursery bill. Some providers take weeks. We've streamlined the process so you can offer this benefit quickly when your team needs it.

What's the difference between childcare vouchers and workplace nursery partnerships?

Childcare vouchers closed to new entrants in 2018. Workplace nursery partnerships remain available and offer more flexibility.

If you're setting up a new childcare benefit today, workplace nursery partnerships are the way to go. They're more flexible, offer better savings for many families, and work with direct partnerships between employers and nurseries.

How do workplace nursery partnerships compare to Tax-Free Childcare?

Both are valuable options, but they work differently.

Workplace nursery partnerships use salary sacrifice and the tax exemption for employer-supported childcare. Tax-Free Childcare is a government scheme offering top-ups.

Employees can't use both simultaneously for the same childcare provisions, but many families—especially higher earners—save more through workplace nursery partnerships.

Important note: If a parent wants to use the workplace nursery partnership for their main childcare and Tax-Free Childcare for wraparound care for an older child, that's completely fine. They just can't use both for the same provision.

What are the partnership conditions?

The tax exemption requires you to meet partnership conditions with nurseries. These include:

• Being partly responsible for financing the childcare provision
• Being partly responsible for managing the provision

This sounds complex, but your provider should provide the framework so it doesn’t have to be onerous. With Gogeta, we manage all partnership agreements, ensure you meet the conditions, and document everything properly in your employer portal.

How much can employees save?

Parents typically save up to 40% on nursery costs through the tax exemption.

Savings depend on their tax band. A higher-rate taxpayer paying £1,200 per month for nursery could save over £400 per month—that's £4,800+ per year.

There's no cap on savings (unlike Tax-Free Childcare which caps at £2,000 annually), and employees earning over £100,000 can use it (unlike Tax-Free Childcare which has income limits).

Is this available to all employees?

Any employee with children in registered nurseries can use workplace nursery partnerships, regardless of income level.

This makes it particularly valuable for higher earners who don't qualify for Tax-Free Childcare but face the same high childcare costs.

Do nurseries have to do anything differently?

Not really. Nurseries continue providing childcare as normal.

The difference is that you're formally partnering with them. Your provider handles the partnership agreements and ensures nurseries understand how the arrangement works.

With Gogeta, nurseries receive an additional financial contribution (12.5% of the parent's bill) which helps support their operations. Parents manage how this contribution is used through our platform.

Can we offer this alongside other benefits?

Yes. Workplace nursery partnerships work well alongside other employee benefits.

They complement benefits like flexible working, parental leave policies, and other family-friendly provisions. Many employers offer this as part of a broader package to support working parents.

How do we communicate this to employees?

Your provider should give you everything you need to launch the benefit effectively.

Gogeta provides marketing materials and FAQs to share with colleagues. Every parent applies through your dedicated employer website. We handle any queries directly, so HR teams don't need to become experts in salary sacrifice.

The key is making it clear and simple: employees can save up to 40% on nursery costs by paying from gross salary instead of net pay.

What if we have employees in different locations?

This works well for distributed teams. Employees can use nurseries near their homes, wherever they're based.

Gogeta's network covers nurseries nationwide, so it doesn't matter if your team is spread across different cities or regions. We can get local nurseries signed up when needed.

Is there a minimum number of employees needed?

No. Workplace nursery partnerships work for businesses of any size.

Whether you have one employee with childcare needs or fifty, the benefit operates the same way. Small businesses can offer this just as easily as large corporations.

What records do we need to keep?

Your provider should handle record-keeping for you.

With Gogeta, everything is tracked in your employer portal. Partnership agreements, employee applications, financial contributions, and management activities are all documented automatically. This gives you complete visibility and makes reporting straightforward.

Ready to explore workplace nursery partnerships?

If you'd like to see how Gogeta's workplace nursery partnerships work in practice, get in touch. We'll show you the platform, walk through how partnerships work, and answer any questions specific to your business.