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Hugh's Law and paid leave for parents of critically ill children.

ended 18. September 2026

Forty firms have promised paid leave when a member of staff's child is critically ill. Could yours?

More than 40 UK businesses have signed up to Hugh's Law, pledging paid leave for staff whose child becomes critically ill. https://www.hrgrapevine.com/content/article/2026-09-14-campaigners-urge-firms-to-offer-paid-leave-to-parents-of-critically-ill-children

Hugh Menai-Davis was six when he died in 2021, after 10 months of cancer treatment. His parents found there was no paid leave for parents in that position. There still is not. https://www.hughslaw.uk/

The law gives unpaid time off for dependants and stops there. Ministers consulted on paid carer's leave and Hugh's Law between 9 June and 1 September, and the response has not landed. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/unpaid-carers-and-parents-of-seriously-ill-children-could-get-new-rights-under-government-proposals

Forty firms is a start. It is also a very short list.

A policy that promises "reasonable time off" is a bucket with no bottom. Nobody knows what they are getting until the worst day of their life.

Write it down this month. How many days, paid or unpaid, who signs it off. Then tell your team it exists.

Straight answers, please:

  • Should paid leave for a critically ill child be law, or left to decent employers?
  • Can a firm with eight staff carry months of paid leave, or would it sink them?
  • Employer or state: who should pay for it?
  • Does a voluntary pledge mean anything without a written policy behind it?
  • Have you supported a member of staff through this? What did you actually do, and what would you do differently?

 

3 responses from the Newspage community

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Kate UnderwoodVerified
Founder & Chief People Strategist at Kate Underwood HR & Training
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I have sat with owners of six-person firms while they worked out how to keep paying someone whose child was in intensive care. They always find a way. What they do not have is anything written down, so the most important decision in that person's life gets made on the hoof, at midnight, by someone guessing. That is not kindness, that is luck. Write your critical illness leave policy this month. Decide the days, decide the pay, decide who approves it. Then back it. Your team will remember how you behaved on their worst day long after they have forgotten any pay rise.
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Tony SanchezVerified
Founder at Bridging Loan Directory
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A parent should not have to negotiate their income while their child is critically ill. I would support a statutory entitlement to paid leave, with state funding so that access does not depend on the size of the employer.

For a small business, the difficulty is paying someone who is away while also covering their work. Wanting to support a family and being able to carry both costs for months are different things.

Employers should provide flexibility and a clear written policy. But the financial support needs to be designed so that someone working for an eight-person firm has protection too.

A parent needs to know what help they can rely on before they have to ask for it.
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Nouran MoustafaVerified
Practice Principal & IFA at Roxton Wealth
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A parent sitting beside their critically ill child should not also be calculating whether they can afford to stay there. That feels like a fairly basic standard we should be capable of achieving.

I support a statutory right to paid leave, but I don’t think the full financial burden should simply be dumped on employers. A business with eight employees cannot absorb months of absence in the same way a company with 8,000 can. If government creates the right, there should be a state-backed mechanism that protects the employee without potentially destabilising a small employer.

Voluntary pledges are positive, but compassion cannot depend on which manager happens to answer the phone that morning. Put the policy in writing: what is paid, for how long, who approves it and what happens if the situation continues.

When somebody’s child is critically ill, uncertainty about their salary should be one problem they simply do not have to deal with.