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Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Childcare Stipend Guidelines

(Effective March 23, 2020) 

We are announcing the following guidelines for the temporary implementation of the Child Care Assistance Program for frontline caregivers and support personnel essential to continuing the operational mission of GMR during the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic. As the crisis continues to evolve, these guidelines are subject to change. 

With school closures across the country, the impact to those with school-age children and dependent-care needs may cause employees to incur an unanticipated expense and GMR is prepared to provide some assistance. To further support our frontline caregivers and support staff who are required to be in the field or in the office, GMR is prepared to aid with dependent care in the form of a stipend. The Child Care Assistance stipend is available until June 1, 2020 or the end of the school term, whichever comes first. If Government assistance is initiated for childcare, this program may be re-visited. Stipend payments will be processed with the regular payroll process.

Eligible employees who are approved starting with shifts on March 23, the Child Care Assistance stipend shall be $50 per shift worked during a standard school week Monday through Friday. For situations where both parents are employed by GMR or a GMR company the assistance will be paid to only one of the two employees not both. While this may not cover 100% of total childcare needs, we are hopeful this will provide assistance to those who are dealing with new childcare issues due to school closures and loss of day care.  

Employees who have children under the age of twelve (12) or who have a child with special needs over the age of twelve (12) and are in one of the following roles are eligible for the Child Care Stipend:

  • Clinicians: EMTs, paramedics, nurses, critical care transport personnel
  • Dispatch and communication staff
  • Pilots
  • Aircraft, ground and fleet maintenance technicians
  • Supervisors of any roles mentioned above (exempt and non-exempt)
  • Essential support personnel (such as Payroll, Accounts Payable Scheduling, IT, Billing/Pre-billing other staff supporting field operations) who are required to physically be on company premises. Decisions about who is required on premises are determined by the department Director with final approval by the department VP

To apply for a stipend please see the application with instructions to apply and obtain approval for this stipend. Once an employee receives approval for the Child Care Assistance stipend, the payroll and HR teams will update the system. Given the number of employees who will qualify, we anticipate this may take several days to process. We will make sure that the stipend will be retroactive to March 23. This Child Care Assistance program is new, and we anticipate there may be a need to fine-tune the backend process as we proceed. We do ask for your patience as all of the stipends are processed.

As the state of this pandemic evolves, we will continue to assess the company support provided. If you have questions on whether you are eligible or have general questions on the Child Care Assistance Stipend, please contact your management Director or local Human Resources representative. 

Regional Directors and Human Resource staff, please ensure this is distributed to all employees. 


Message distributed to all GMR employees