Care for Business Family Care Benefits

Carnegie Mellon is pleased to offer dependent care benefits through Care.com’s Care for Business program. Eligible faculty, staff and graduate students receive a free premium membership to Care.com, where they can search provider profiles or post jobs. The program also provides access to emergency backup care options at a subsidized rate to cover unexpected gaps in care for children and adults. Specialists are available to help families looking to hire in-home caregivers, which can make the process of hiring a caregiver much simpler. The LifeMart discount program is also included and provides discounts on a variety of products and services, including child care.

On this page:

• How to create an account
• Eligibility
• Benefits and costs
• Tax implications
• Forming a care share

How to create an account

To access Care for Business, you must first enroll via the CMU-specific portal. To ensure you are prepared when the unexpected occurs, you are encouraged to enroll with Care for Business before a need arises. To enroll:

1. Go to cmu.care.com.
2. Review the disclaimer and click on "Let's get started."
3. Follow the prompts to complete the brief questionnaire and click "Save and Continue."
4. Enter your Andrew ID and personal information, create a password and click "Enroll now."
5. When you need care, use your Andrew ID and the password you created to log into your account at cmu.care.com, or use the Care@Work mobile app for iPhone/iPad or Android. You can also call 855-781-1303.

Please note that Care.com is improving the accessibility of its platform for those with disabilities. If you need assistance accessing any part of the Care.com user experience, please call 855-781-1303 ext. 4.

Eligibility

Eligible individuals include regular full-time and part-time faculty and staff and graduate students. Undergraduate students needing family care resources should reach out to the Office of Human Resources for assistance.

Benefits and costs

With Care for Business, eligible individuals have access to the following services:

• Care.com Membership [pdf]: Free premium, unlimited access to Care.com to find providers for your ongoing care needs for children, seniors, pets, your home, and more.
• Backup Care for Children [pdf]: Access to subsidized in-home or in-center care for your children when your regular care is not available, including school holidays, last-minute sitter cancellations, or when your child is sick. You can also use these days to reimburse for the cost of summer camps.
  • Eligible individuals have a total of 15 Backup Care days, including child care and adult care, per program year (4/22/2023–4/21/2024). Five of these days can be used for summer camp reimbursement [pdf]. 
  • Copay for in-home child care is $4 per hour.
  • Copay for in-center child care is $10/child per day.
• Backup Care for Adults [pdf]: Includes help recovering from surgery, meal prep, or care for when regular adult care is not available. Even if a parent lives across the country, Care.com can help.
  • Eligible individuals have a total of 15 Backup Care days, including child care and adult care, per program year (4/22/2023–4/21/2024).
  • Copay for in-home adult care is $4 per hour.
• LifeCare Family: Free assistance from a Care.com associate who can support you in the process of finding in-home caregivers such as nannies or elder care providers.
• LifeMart [pdf]: Discounts on a variety of products and services including child care elder care, pet care, housekeeping, automotive and travel.

Tax implications

Benefits received through Backup Care for Children and/or Backup Care for Adults Care.com usage may be considered imputed income and subject to taxation if received in combination with other employer-provided tax-free child and dependent care benefits that exceed $5,000 in the aggregate. See Child and Dependent Care Benefits — Tax Implications [pdf].

As an example, if the total cost of the backup care for one, 7.5 hour day is $150 at $20 per hour, and your cost share is $4 per hour, the university’s cost is $16 per hour, or $128 for the day. This $128 portion may be taxable and appear on your pay statement.

Forming a care share

Once you are enrolled with Care.com, you can take advantage of Care for Business benefits to create a shared child care arrangement. Care for Business can help with both finding a caregiver and finding families for your care share.

To find families:

1. Log in to cmu.care.com.
2. In the search bar, click the drop-down menu and select “Care shares.”
3. Answer questions regarding the number of children who will participate in care, their ages, days of the week you are seeking care, and if you have a preferred nanny in place.
4. After answering these questions, a list of families also seeking to form a shared care arrangement will appear.

To find a caregiver

• Log in to cmu.care.com and search for local care providers.
• You may also choose to post a job and find a nanny that way by selecting “Post a Job” after clicking “Child care.”
• The LifeCare Family program offers access to care specialists who can help you find a caregiver for your nanny share. To access LifeCare Family:
  1. Log in to your Care for Business account and proceed to the homepage.
  2. Under “Connect with a Care Specialist” select “Parenting.”
  3. Select “Family Member” as the recipient and click “next.”
  4. Describe the care arrangement you are seeking in the text box. Include the age of your child and the days of the week/number of hours you are seeking care in this section.
  5. Alternatively, you can call LifeCare Family at 866-814-1638.

Additional resources

• So, you want to do a nanny share! Here’s how to get started
• How to interview nannies for a nanny share
• 5 nanny share questions to ask when considering another family