Ways To Support Working Parents During the Back-to-School Season

A recent CBS News report puts back-to-school supply spending at roughly $146 per child this year, up nearly 8% on tariff-driven price increases. That is the number employers tend to hear about.

The one that matters more for your workforce comes from a Bob Evans survey conducted by Talker Research this spring. Parents lose an average of 38 minutes a day driving kids to and from school activities. Across a 180-day school year, that is 6,858 minutes, or close to 15 eight-hour workdays spent in the car. The same survey found 77% of parents say back-to-school season makes daily life feel more hectic and unpredictable.

Those minutes come from somewhere. Usually they come out of the workday, in small pieces, from people who are reluctant to say anything about it.

Here is what actually helps.

Ten ways to support working parents this back-to-school season

1. Offer flexible scheduling

Let parents shift hours to cover drop-offs, pickups, orientations, and school events. A 7:30 start that ends at 4:00 solves more problems than most benefits line items, and it costs nothing.

2. Allow remote or hybrid work where the job permits

The first few weeks of school are the messiest, and so are holiday breaks when kids are home and backup care falls through. Remote flexibility during those specific windows absorbs a lot of stress without changing your overall policy.

3. Ask managers to plan ahead

This is the highest-leverage item on the list. Have managers raise the subject before the school year starts, ask what is coming, and sort out workload conflicts in advance. Most parents will not volunteer the information. They will just quietly absorb it, or start looking elsewhere.

4. Allow partial-day PTO

If your system only lets people take time off in full-day blocks, a 40-minute parent-teacher conference costs someone an entire vacation day. Four-hour increments fix that. This is often a payroll configuration change rather than a policy change.

5. Limit nonessential meetings at the edges of the day

Early-morning and late-afternoon meetings are exactly when the school run happens. Protecting those blocks during the first few weeks costs almost nothing and signals that you understand the constraint.

6. Offer dependent care benefits

Childcare subsidies, backup care, or a partnership with a local provider all help close the gap between the school day and the workday, which in most districts is a two-hour mismatch minimum.

7. Remind people what they already have

Dependent care flexible spending accounts are consistently underused, largely because employees forget they elected them. The same goes for paid family leave, which is changing fast in this region. If you have employees in Maryland, DC, or Virginia, all three jurisdictions now have paid family and medical leave programs on three different timelines, and it is worth making sure your team knows what applies to them.

8. Subsidize school supplies

Gift cards, a small reimbursement, or a supply drive. With supply costs up around 8%, a modest gesture lands harder than it did two years ago.

9. Put your mental health benefits in front of people

Back-to-school stress affects the whole household, and most employee assistance programs cover dependents as well as employees. Counseling resources like virtual mental health support tend to go unused simply because nobody mentions them at the right moment. August is the right moment.

10. Start a parent employee resource group

An ERG gives parents somewhere to trade advice about which after-school program has a waitlist and which pediatrician takes evening appointments. It costs you a room and a recurring calendar invite. The retention effect is real.

The DMV wrinkle: three school calendars, one payroll

Employers in this region deal with something most companies do not. If your team is spread across Montgomery County, the District, and Northern Virginia, you are working around several different school systems, which means different first days, different professional development closures, different spring breaks, and different early-release schedules.

A blanket “we are flexible in late August” policy misses staff whose district started two weeks earlier or later. It is worth pulling the academic calendars for the districts your employees actually live in and mapping the closure days onto your own staffing calendar before the semester starts. The exercise takes an afternoon and prevents a surprising number of coverage problems.

A little support goes a long way

Recognizing what working parents are managing helps them feel seen, heard, and supported. Small accommodations, particularly flexible schedules and a manager who thinks a week ahead, make a real difference during a genuinely hard transition.

It is also worth saying plainly: this is retention work. Parents of school-aged children are often in the most experienced stretch of their careers, and they are expensive to replace. The same logic applies at the other end of the pipeline, which we wrote about in managing the newest graduating class.

If you would like help reviewing what your current benefits package already offers parent employees, or want to look at adding dependent care or expanded leave, that is a straightforward conversation. Give us a call and we will walk through it with you.

And if you have employees sending kids off to college rather than kindergarten, our back-to-campus insurance checklist is a useful thing to forward along.

Frequently asked questions

What benefits help working parents most during back-to-school season?
Flexibility consistently outperforms spending. The highest-impact changes are flexible start and end times, permission to use paid time off in partial-day increments such as four hours, remote or hybrid options during the first weeks of school, and managers who proactively discuss upcoming school obligations. Dependent care benefits, childcare subsidies, and backup care help address the structural gap between the school day and the workday.

Why should employers let staff take PTO in partial-day increments?
Because most school obligations are short. A parent-teacher conference, an open house, or an early dismissal takes an hour or two, but if your system only allows full-day increments, employees must spend an entire PTO day on a 40-minute meeting. Allowing four-hour blocks lets parents handle school commitments without exhausting their time off, and it is frequently a payroll system configuration rather than a policy overhaul.

What is a dependent care FSA and why is it underused?
A dependent care flexible spending account lets employees set aside pre-tax dollars for eligible childcare expenses, including day care, before and after-school programs, and summer day camp. It is commonly underused because employees elect it during open enrollment and then forget it exists. A short reminder at the start of the school year, when childcare costs spike, typically increases both usage and appreciation of the benefit.

How does back-to-school season affect employee productivity and retention?
Parents report losing an average of 38 minutes per day to school-related driving, which adds up to nearly 15 eight-hour workdays across a school year, and 77% say the season makes daily life more hectic. That time and stress come out of the workday in small increments. Employers who provide flexibility during this window tend to see less unplanned absence and better retention among experienced employees who are costly to replace.

Do employers in Maryland, DC, and Virginia face different requirements for family leave?
Yes. All three jurisdictions have paid family and medical leave programs, but they operate on different schedules and funding structures. DC’s program is active now and fully employer-funded. Maryland’s FAMLI contributions begin January 1, 2027. Virginia’s contributions begin April 1, 2028. Employers with staff across the region should confirm which rules apply to each employee based on where they work.

Related reading from Capitol Benefits

• Employee Benefits in DC, Maryland, and Virginia: What Changes at Every Border in 2026
• Managing Gen Z’s Newest Graduating Class
• Employee assistance program resources
• Employee wellness and health navigation
• Employee Benefits advisory for DMV employers

This article is general information for employers, not legal, tax, or benefits advice. Leave laws, dependent care rules, and benefit eligibility vary by jurisdiction and plan. Confirm your specific obligations with your advisor or counsel before making policy changes.