For employers
Corporate childcare: how a Riviera employer can reserve nursery places for its staff
Reserved nursery places are one of the most tangible benefits an employer can offer. Here is how a partnership agreement works, what it covers, and how to set one up.
Last updated : 6 min read
In short
A Riviera employer can reserve nursery places for employees' children through a partnership agreement. At Au Petit Bonheur it includes negotiated fees, admission priority for partner families and quarterly reporting. Setup takes four to six weeks.
Which organisations does a partnership suit?
Any organisation whose staff face demanding hours or hard-to-fill roles: companies, hospitals and clinics, international schools, hospitality, institutions and public bodies.
It is most useful where hours are long, recruitment is competitive, or new hires relocate to the region — a common pattern on the Riviera across healthcare, hospitality, international schools and corporate offices.
Size is not the deciding factor. An agreement can cover a single reserved place in an SME or several places in a larger organisation. What matters is predictability: reserving a place means it will be there when an employee needs it.
What does it actually deliver for HR?
A benefit employees understand immediately, working on recruitment, on returns from parental leave and on retention.
On recruitment the argument is direct: being able to tell a candidate that childcare is solved removes one of the biggest barriers to accepting a role, especially for someone relocating to the region.
On retention, the effect lands at the return from leave. That is when organisations lose the most experience, often simply because no place was available on the required date. A reserved place addresses exactly that.
And on operations: wide opening hours and 50 weeks of opening a year reduce unplanned absences caused by childcare gaps.
What does an agreement with Au Petit Bonheur include?
A number of reserved places, negotiated fees, admission priority for employees' children, billing arrangements and quarterly reporting.
The agreement sets out the duration of the partnership, the number of places, the fees and how invoicing works. It also clarifies who pays what: the employer can cover all or part of the cost, or simply guarantee access to the places.
Reserved places
A volume defined with you and adjustable when the agreement is renewed.
Negotiated fees
Specific terms for families attached to the partner organisation.
Admission priority
Children of partner employees are admitted first to the covered places.
Quarterly reporting
Occupancy of the reserved places and family satisfaction, shared with your HR team.
Central invoicing
A single point of contact and billing terms defined in the agreement.
What are the steps to set it up?
An initial conversation about your needs, a visit, a written proposal, then signature. Allow four to six weeks for setup.
The first conversation scopes the real need: how many employees are concerned in the short term, which ages, which days, and by when. Many employers over- or underestimate this before checking.
The visit matters even for a corporate agreement: your staff will ask what the place is like, and you should be able to answer. Visits are by appointment, in English or French.
Then comes the proposal and the agreement itself. Once signed, we contact the families concerned directly and organise their enrolment and settling in exactly as for any other family.
What do HR teams usually ask?
Almost always about the tax treatment of employer-funded childcare, fairness between employees, what happens to an unused place, and the length of commitment.
On fairness, the answer is contractual: define in your internal policy how reserved places are allocated, and communicate it. That is what prevents friction.
On unused places, it depends on what the agreement provides; it is worth settling at the outset, based on how predictable your needs are.
On tax, we systematically refer employers to their accountant and to the competent authorities: the rules depend on how the support is structured, and we do not provide tax advice.
Employer FAQ
What is the minimum number of places?
There is no imposed minimum. We build the agreement around your actual need, including a single place.
How quickly can an agreement be operational?
Allow four to six weeks between the first conversation and effective setup, depending on availability at the target date.
Do employees need to live in the commune?
No. We are a privately licensed, SCAJE-authorised nursery: there is no residence condition and enrolment is direct, without a central waiting list.
What are the opening hours?
Monday to Friday, 7:00 to 18:30, 50 weeks a year. Our only annual closure is at Christmas.
Is the care bilingual?
Yes, in French and English — which suits organisations recruiting internationally.
Let's build your agreement
Tell us how many employees are concerned and by when, and we will come back with a proposal matched to your situation.
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