A Nottinghamshire dad who was told he was not entitled to parental leave after his wife died during childbirth is calling for a change in the law. Aaron Horsey, of Beeston, said he was shocked to find out he was not able to take shared parental leave when his wife Bernadette died whilst giving birth to their son Tim on January 19 at Royal Derby Hospital.
"It was incredibly stressful and quite shocking actually when you Google 'what do you do when your child's mother dies?' and find out actually that there isn't anything that anyone is obliged to, or supported in offering you from an employment perspective in those particular circumstances," the 31-year-old said.
Mr Horsey, who works in clinical trial management, was told by his employers that they were unable to give him shared parental leave after the death of 31-year-old Bernadette, who was a biomedical scientist in Nottingham. He said he had already booked annual leave instead of paternity leave due to not being at the company long enough.
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Despite the circumstances, he said he was "incredibly lucky" to be given alternative support by his employers. "Fortunately I was able to take different types of leave, using annual leave and bereavement leave which was a couple of weeks," he said.
"All things considered from an employment perspective I was incredibly lucky." However, Mr Horsey is now seeking a change in the law that could help others put in the same position as himself.
"I was incredibly fortunate to have such support available to me, but I appreciate people won't have that and will be left in a devastating situation that will have a lasting impact on their career, livelihood and even their ability to support their own child," he said.
Mr Horsey's case was raised in Parliament by Broxtowe MP Darren Henry, who told Rishi Sunak during Prime Minister's Questions on Thursday, November 3, that there was a disparity in the laws. "The current eligibility requirements differ between the surviving birthing partner as compared to the surviving non-birthing partner and this meant in Aaron's case, he was not entitled to leave to raise his son," said the Conservative politician.
He then added: "Will the Prime Minister ensure that both my constituent and I can meet with the relevant minister to make sure that we move towards a future where parents are not in this position?" Mr Sunak, who passed on his condolences, said he was very concerned to hear Mr Horsey had not received support and promised to arrange a meeting with an appropriate minister.
Speaking to Nottinghamshire Live, Mr Henry said a meeting had been arranged with Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Grant Shapps, for November 15. "I think it's time to change it. When Aaron came to me I wasn't aware that the law wasn't showing parity of treatment so I think it was an important thing I needed to raise to the highest level," he said.
"What Aaron's highlighted, which is a dreadfully sad situation then compounded by something that's unfair, won't help Aaron but it will help other people who find themselves in this terribly bad situation." The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has been contacted for comment.
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