What Does Our Logo Mean?
Four shapes. One idea. Partnership.
Every shape tells a story
Look closely at our round icon and you will see four interlocking shapes: two in navy, two in green. Each one curves into the next, forming a single, seamless whole. That is exactly how the Workplace Nursery Scheme works: four parties, each playing a distinct role, each supporting the others.
The shapes represent employers, nurseries, parents, and Feel The Benefit itself. Together, they unlock a government-backed salary sacrifice scheme that has been available since 2003, and still too few families know it exists.
Employers and nurseries: the partnership that makes it legal
At the heart of the Workplace Nursery Scheme is a formal partnership between an employer and a commercial nursery. This is not optional: HMRC requires it. Section 318 of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 sets out the Workplace Nursery Exemption, which allows childcare fees to be paid from gross pay rather than net pay, provided this specific employer-nursery arrangement is in place.
In practice, this means the employer takes a small, nominal stake in the nursery: not ownership, just a documented participation in the provision of childcare. Feel The Benefit manages this relationship entirely on your behalf. The paperwork, the agreements, the ongoing compliance: we handle all of it.
Since 2003, and it has never been more valuable
The HMRC Workplace Nursery Exemption has been part of UK tax law since 2003. Unlike many salary sacrifice schemes, it has no upper limit on the amount that can be sacrificed. A parent paying £1,000 a month in fees saves on all £1,000. A parent paying £2,500 a month saves on all £2,500.
That is the reason a high-earning parent on a large salary with expensive nursery fees can save well over £10,000 in a year: entirely legitimately, entirely transparently, and with HMRC's full endorsement.
Reliable income and a meaningful relationship with local employers
Nurseries benefit from more than just additional enrolments. When a nursery partners with a local employer through Feel The Benefit, that employer makes a small monthly contribution as part of the scheme. Over time, across multiple participating employers, this contribution can amount to tens of thousands of pounds of additional funding: revenue the nursery would never have received otherwise.
Beyond the money, employer-linked enrolments tend to be more stable. Parents whose fees are handled through their employer are more likely to commit for longer periods, improving occupancy forecasting and reducing the costly churn of short-term enrolments.
Save up to 40% on nursery fees, without changing nursery
For parents, the scheme is straightforward: nursery fees come out of gross pay before Income Tax and National Insurance are calculated. The result is a significant reduction in the amount of tax you pay, which translates directly into cash savings.
A basic-rate taxpayer saves around 32% of their nursery fees. A higher-rate taxpayer saves around 42%. And because there is no cap on the amount that can be sacrificed, the savings scale with the fees. Crucially, you do not have to change nursery: if your child is already settled, they stay exactly where they are.
How Feel The Benefit earns its keep, and why nobody is out of pocket
There are no sign-up fees for employers, no monthly charges for nurseries, and no admin costs passed on to parents. Feel The Benefit takes a small percentage of the tax saving generated by the scheme. Because that saving comes from money that would otherwise have gone to HMRC, our fee represents no net cost to anyone involved.
Think of it like the cycle to work scheme: a well-established salary sacrifice benefit where an employer provides bicycles and equipment, the employee repays the cost from gross pay, and a scheme provider earns a fee from the arrangement. The Workplace Nursery Scheme operates on exactly the same principle, except the benefit is nursery fees, and there is no upper limit on what can be saved.
Employers save too, without spending more
When an employee's gross pay reduces through salary sacrifice, the employer's National Insurance liability also falls. The employer makes a nominal contribution to the nursery as part of the scheme, but the NI saving typically exceeds that contribution, meaning the employer ends up saving money overall while offering a genuinely valuable benefit to their staff.
It is one of the rare cases where a benefit costs the employer nothing, and actually improves the bottom line.
Simple, online, and managed entirely by us
Setting up the scheme with Feel The Benefit is straightforward. Everything is handled online. We identify a suitable local nursery partner for your business (or work with one you already have a relationship with), draw up the necessary agreements, and onboard your participating employees.
Once live, we pay the nurseries directly, issue itemised payroll data to your payroll team, and handle all employee communications. You do not need specialist HR or payroll knowledge: we take care of the compliance, the calculations, and the administration, so you can simply offer the benefit and let your employees benefit.
Ready to make nursery fees work harder for you?
Whether you are a parent looking to save, an employer wanting to offer a meaningful benefit, or a nursery interested in partnering with us, our team is happy to walk you through exactly how the scheme works.
Get in touch
Our team is ready to answer any questions you may have.