Bereaved father wins change to parental leave law in three UK nations | The Guardian

>A father who was left without the right to parental leave after his wife died in childbirth has won a change to the law in England, Wales and Scotland on the last day of this parliament.

>Because Horsey, a clinical trial manager, had worked for his company for less than nine months, he did not have the automatic right to paternity or parental leave, despite being left in sole care of his newborn son.

Wow. Incredibly fucked up that he had to fight this legal battle in the first place, but I’m glad he won. Hopefully it will set a legal precedent that other parents in similar situations will also benefit from. I’m sure once his son is old enough to learn about the case, he’ll be very proud of his dad.

Very well done of him. But why does it always take a tragedy and someone pushy to make this kind of progress?

I worked with his wife, she was only a few months further along in her pregnancy than my wife, we bumped into each other at antenatal scans. I’m glad that something good has come out of such a horrific tragedy. It’s the only time I’ve been genuinely speechless from shock when I heard the news. From what I understand his employer did try and help out and make allowances given the situation but ultimately there was no legal obligation for them to do so and no legal precedent to allow him the appropriate leave he needed.