First of all, you are not the holiday police. It is not your job to make sure staff have childcare. You are the person who creates a fair policy and applies it the same way to everyone. That is your job here.

Start by separating two things people tend to blur together. One is where the work happens. The other is when it happens. Someone in a role that can be done from anywhere is a different conversation from someone whose job needs them on site. Create and communicate a clear policy that sets out which roles can be done offsite, because the resentment you are worried about usually comes from people not understanding why the answer was different for them.

For the roles that can be flexible, the fairest approach is a clear seasonal arrangement rather than a pile of individual side deals. Decide what you can offer: remote days, compressed hours, a temporary earlier start and finish so a parent can cover an afternoon. Put the boundaries in writing. Core hours still apply. Deadlines still apply. Meetings people are expected at still apply. Then let managers say yes inside those lines without checking with you every time. Just be clear and upfront about the policy.
For the roles that cannot be flexible, do not pretend they can. Be honest that the job needs them physically present, and look at what you can offer instead. Annual leave booked in advance. Parental leave. A few unpaid days. The staff member who cannot work from home will accept a fair no far more easily than a vague maybe and confusion about why one job got a yes and theirs did not.

One thing worth remembering, and it matters whether you are in the Republic or the North. In the Republic, staff have had the right to request remote working since the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2023, and the WRC code of practice sets out how you handle those requests. Here is the bit people miss. It is a right to request and to have it considered properly, not a right to get a yes. The very first WRC decision on it, Karabko v TikTok in 2024, made that crystal clear. The employee lost, and the WRC said its job was only to check the employer followed the process, not to second-guess the answer. So your process is everything. One more thing for the Republic: family status is a protected ground under the Employment Equality Acts, so a blanket no that lands hardest on parents can stray into indirect discrimination. Be careful there.

In the North, the picture is different, and about to shift. There is no standalone right to work remotely. Staff can request flexible working, which can include where they work, once they have 26 weeks service, and you have to deal with it reasonably. Keep an eye on the Good Jobs Employment Rights Bill though, because it proposes making that a day-one right, so watch this space. Either way, a request made because childcare is expensive is a request like any other. You weigh it against the needs of the role and you respond in good time.

The supportive part costs you nothing. Acknowledge that summer is hard when you have kids and a mortgage. Ask what would actually help rather than assuming full remote is the only answer. Sometimes it is a later start two days a week. Sometimes it is knowing they can step away at three and log back on at eight.

Decide your position, set the policy, and make sure it is communicated and that managers understand it. Tell everyone the same thing. That is how you stay kind, fair and compliant, which all matter.