Told to bring my child to work

Firstly, discrimination has to be on the basis of a protected characteristic and so unless you are able to show less favourable treatment on that basis there is unlikely to be a claim under the Equalities Act.

There is a possibility of a claim for indirect discrimination on the grounds of sex.  The argument being that more women than men have caring responsibilities for children and the provision, criterion or practice, of requiring all employees to come into work is more detrimental to you on grounds of you having childcare responsibilities.

It doesn’t sound like this is a redundancy situation if work is available and so there could be a potential unfair dismissal, but this would only apply if you had worked there for two years or more. Also, there is a possibility that the employer has breached the implied duty of trust and confidence in dismissing you in circumstances where you have refused to bring her child into work with her.

In addition to the possibilities of asking for time off (unpaid) for looking after a child, you could have been furloughed, but the employer is not obliged to do this.

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