Yup ~ pretty much every provinces Act governing the 'childcare' for that Province be it private in home, centre, home childcare agency and so forth can be found online with a few keystrokes so that you can empower yourself to read 'first hand' the rules rather than relying on potential misinformation passed on by others who interpret things 'differently'.Quote:
Originally Posted by Nottellin'
http://www.qp.alberta.ca/574.cfm?pag...=9780779733866
I hear people in my province say all the time that there are no regulations for private home childcare accept that we cannot care for more than 5 children (not including our own) .... but technically that is a 'misinterpretation' .... while the Ministry of Education has no jurisdiction to 'enforce' the regulations that are set out in the Day Nursery Act in a private home dwelling we have a duty to SELF REGULATE based on standard practice in our industry which is typically defined by regulations for said field, professional publications and so forth of said industry.
As a business we are required by civil law to ensure we engage in 'due diligence' in our business so if an accident or injury ever occurs in our home and our 'practice' is not up to industry minimum standards we could be held negligent in a court of law ... just because no one is 'inspecting' us to make sure we are doing so we are still ACCOUNTABLE to those we serve .... if our business does not meet the Fire Code Bilaws because we did not 'bother' to inform ourselves and a child dies in a fire in our home ~ we are liable, if our business has unsafe practices that the majority of the industry has set 'safeguards' in place for either in the Day Nursery Act and other industry publications and we choose 'not to engage' in that safeguard or practice and a child is harmed in our care ~ we are liable. And you can bet we would be 'judged' not only in a court of law but in the court of public opinion for sure and have to live with that for the rest of our lives!
Ignorance of the laws or best practice in an industry is NOT an excuse specially if you ever find yourself being sued by a client :(
Most provinces and cities have bilaws and regulations for ALL business that we are still accountable to as well ... fire code bi laws, zoning bi laws, basic business rules and regulations that apply to ALL business home based or not and so forth and while 'childcare' is except from some not necessarily 'all' of them.
My point being that as awesome as forums are for sharing information it is ALWAYS best to insure that as a business person you have done FIRST HAND research about the regulations in your province around childcare and choose your own standard of practice based on that due diligence ... take the stuff you read on line as a stepping stone for finding the answers yourself verses taking others 'word' for it ... this way if anything happens in your business you've done the 'best due diligence' you can so to speak!
This is why when I give advice specially about a 'rule or regulation' I always include the 'source' that allowed me to make that conclusion or choice in my own business practice.
