Hesitated when parent employed this (6)
I believe the answer is:
paused
'hesitated' is the definition.
('pause' can be a synonym of 'hesitate')
'parent employed this' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'parent' could be 'pa' (pa can mean dad or father) and 'pa' is present in the answer.
'employed' could be 'used' ('use' can be a synonym of 'employ') and 'used' is located in the answer.
No letters remain.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
'when' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for paused that I've seen before include "Ceased temporarily" , "Waited a moment" , "Hesitated, stopped briefly" , "Stopped temporarily or hesitated" .)