THE government discriminated against two disabled children after officials refused a request to allow their childminder to continue caring for one of them once a week, a tribunal has found.
The Jersey Employment and Discrimination Tribunal ruled that the Education Minister failed to make “reasonable adjustments” for the neurodivergent siblings – identified only as A and B.
The refusal caused “substantial disadvantage” to the children and breached discrimination law, the tribunal said.
The case centred on a request made by the sibling’s registered childminder to exceed normal childcare ratios for six hours each Wednesday during term-time.
The arrangement was sought after the siblings had to move to a new nursery, which could only offer them four days a week – leaving Wednesdays without childcare.
The childminder had previously been granted an exception allowing A to attend for two days a week, but officials refused to extend the arrangement because of an internal rule limiting such exceptions to six months.
Officials also told the family that the wider family context could not be considered when deciding the request, stating in an email to the children’s father that officials “cannot consider the needs of siblings” or “parental needs and preferences”.
The tribunal found that both of these approaches were unlawful. The panel said that “no proper consideration was given to the request” because the department had in place a “blanket rule that exceptions were subject to a six-month limit”.
The tribunal found that these rigid policies placed the children at a “substantial disadvantage”.
The children’s mother described how A struggled significantly after losing contact with the childminder, experiencing repeated “meltdowns” and difficulty leaving the house during the transition to the new nursery.
The tribunal accepted that maintaining a day of continuity with the childminder would likely have eased the transition for the neurodivergent child.
The panel found that B was also disadvantaged because the refusal meant their mother was unable to spend the one-to-one time needed to carry out an intensive communication programme.
Government officials instead suggested contacting the nursery to see whether it could take the child on Wednesdays by increasing its numbers.
But the tribunal said this was “insufficient”, noting there was no evidence that a place would actually have been available.
The panel also noted that the official responsible for the decision had received no training on discrimination law. The tribunal had “no doubt she would have taken a more flexible approach” had proper training been provided.
Although the tribunal ruled in favour of the children, no financial compensation was awarded because none was requested.
Instead, the panel recommended that the Education Minister revise official childcare guidance within six months to ensure future exemption requests comply with discrimination law.
The updated guidance must clarify that decisions should consider the needs of all service users and must remove “any arbitrary limits on exemptions such as a six-month time limit”.
The government has agreed to provide staff training on discrimination legislation.
