The Equality Act 2010

The Equality Act 2010 is law - it replaced the Disability Discrimination Act and some other Acts - and all childminders must understand how it affects them.

The Act states that you cannot discriminate against anyone if they have a ‘protected characteristic’ - this covers a person’s age, disability, religion or belief, sex and much more.

It is our duty under the Act to make ‘reasonable adjustments’ to accommodate the needs of a family or child who approach us for care and tell us that their child, for example, is deaf or has autism.

We must not treat the child or family any differently from other children and families who access our provision - for example, we are not allowed to charge the family of a disabled child more money; or ask a family for money to make changes to our homes to accommodate a wheelchair or walker; or tell a family we cannot provide care because we do not have a hearing loop; or ask a family to provide food for their child to suit a special diet if we normally provide food for other children.

The aim of the Equality Act is to ensure everyone is treated fairly. Money cannot be a barrier when making ‘reasonable adjustments’ and you should take legal advice if you are not sure what is considered ‘reasonable’ under the law or if parents disagree with what you are saying to them.

For example, if you tell parents you cannot afford to widen your doorways to accommodate their child’s wheelchair or you cannot afford to put in a downstairs toilet - this will probably been seen as reasonable... but if you tell parents you cannot care for their child for reasons which the family argue are unreasonable then you might find yourself on the wrong end of a legal battle.

We understand that some of our members might not understand about the Equality Act 2010 and might want to ask questions about the Act. We respect all questions asked by members, new and established and we ask that answers are given respectfully and gently.

You will find more information about the Equality Act 2010 online including the following details in my blog - Sarah's Blog: The Equality Act 2010 and childminders.

Thank you :)

Wow good information. I have worked with autistic children before,( my younger brother is autistic too, he needs a lot of one on one) loved the job, loved working with the children, very rewarding but could I do it while working with other kids I just don't know, having first hand experience, how demanding it can be. I know a couple of child minders that only work with autistic children, they only take on one child at a time and charge much more money to cover the service they provide. I guess they are breaking the law but if one has a highly autistic child impossible to look after more kids, believe me I know. I understand the law as to protect everyone and everyone is equal but I know my parents would rather pay more for one on one care for my brother than have him with lots of other children, he would not cope at all !

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Originally Posted by bindy

Wow good information. I have worked with autistic children before,( my younger brother is autistic too, he needs a lot of one on one) loved the job, loved working with the children, very rewarding but could I do it while working with other kids I just don't know, having first hand experience, how demanding it can be. I know a couple of child minders that only work with autistic children, they only take on one child at a time and charge much more money to cover the service they provide. I guess they are breaking the law but if one has a highly autistic child impossible to look after more kids, believe me I know. I understand the law as to protect everyone and everyone is equal but I know my parents would rather pay more for one on one care for my brother than have him with lots of other children, he would not cope at all !

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Well I think that's fair enough then, if the parents are happy to pay more for that one to one care. It's when they're forced to pay more that there would be an issue.