Some employers may welcome this intervention. Many employees would be unable to work if they could not rely on informal and reciprocal childcare arrangements with friends and colleagues. Childcare costs limit the financial benefit of returning to work for many.

While this development limits the regulation of informal childcare arrangements, organisations that employ individuals to work with children (and vulnerable adults) are to be more restricted. The Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 has created a centralised vetting system for people barred from working with children in paid and unpaid work. Employers proposing to employ someone in a “regulated activity” must check whether or not that individual is on one of the barred lists. From November 2010 individuals applying to work in, or volunteer for, regulated activities, will be required to register with, and be checked by, the Independent Safeguarding Authority. It will also be illegal to employ an individual in a regulated activity without first checking his or her registration status and to employ someone in a regulated activity who is not yet registered with the Authority. For more details see the Job applicants with convictions section of the XpertHR employment law manual (subscription required). The vetting and barring scheme will also be covered in the next series of XpertHR’s topic of the week (subscription required).