Care@Work Family Care Benefits
Carnegie Mellon is pleased to offer family care benefits through Care.com. Through the Care@Work program, Care.com prescreens qualified caregivers to help eligible individuals find backup emergency care for children and adults. The program also includes a free membership to perform self-directed searches for a variety of caregiving needs. View the Overview of Care@Work [pdf] to learn more.
How to Access Care
To access Care@Work, 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@Work before a need arises. To enroll:
- Go to cmu.care.com.
- Review the disclaimer and click on "Let's get started."
- Follow the prompts to complete the brief questionnaire and click "Save and Continue."
- Enter your Andrew ID and personal information, create a password and click "Enroll now."
- 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@Work, eligible individuals have access to the following services:
- Care.com Membership: Free premium, unlimited access to Care.com to find providers for your ongoing care needs for children, seniors, pets, your home, and more.
- Learn more about Care.com Membership [pdf].
- Backup Care for Children: 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 (4/22/2022–4/21/2023).
- Co-pay for in-home child care is $4 per hour.
- Co-pay for in-center child care is $10/child per day.
- Learn more about Backup Care for Children [pdf], Personal Network Backup Care [pdf] and Summer Camps [pdf].
- Backup Care for Adults: 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 (4/22/2022–4/21/2023).
- Co-pay for in-home adult care is $4 per hour.
- Learn more about Backup Care for Adults [pdf] and Personal Network Backup Care [pdf].
- 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.
- Learn more about LifeCare Family.
- LifeMart: Discounts on a variety of products and services including child care elder care, pet care, housekeeping, automotive and travel.
- Learn more about LifeMart [pdf].
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.