Back at the beginning of June an e-petition was published by Christina Harris which is very significant. It is with number 638449 and the title is “The Require employers to offer career breaks for parents with a seriously ill child”. During June it obtained 10,000 signatures, and then in July it added 16,000 signatures. In August it added 21,000 signatures and at the end of September it obtained another 32,000 signatures and so it had passed nearly 80,000 signatures by the end of September. By the middle of October it achieved another 20,000 so it reached 100,000 which now means it is significantly for potentially MPs that could potentially raise it to the Government. The petition is available from here and the text is

The Require employers to offer career breaks for parents with a seriously ill child

My daughter was diagnosed with Leukaemia. I became a full-time nurse overnight. My employer is unable to keep my job open so I have lost my job of 19 years. Employers should be required to grant special breaks for parents in this situation enabling them to return to their jobs afterwards.

Parents shouldn’t face losing their jobs on top of dealing with the possibility of losing their child. I feel this is the responsibility of the Government to protect the parents of seriously ill children, with no choice other than to drop everything to care for their children. Please, this needs to be addressed immediately. I have spoken to so many parents with caring responsibilities that are struggling financially, which then becomes a huge emotional burden and all this could be avoided if there was something in place to help desperate parents. This is URGENT!