Whether we want it or not, personal matters interfere with our professional life – and there is no period more challenging than the illness or death of a loved one. Clearly, HR departments should do everything in their power to help employees cope with grief and, eventually, return to normal work routine. A thought-through bereavement and compassionate leave policy can be a first step in this direction, but how do you even start with such a delicate issue?
The lack of comprehensive legal procedures is the first challenge HRs face when handling bereavement leave. While some countries, like Canada, Australia, and the UK, have some national guidelines, the US does not have a single federal law to rely upon. Moreover, recent studies have shown that statutory policies no longer reflect cultural and ethical needs, which is why companies are starting to expand the period of paid bereavement leave and even reconsider employee rights and eligibility criteria.
So, what’s the best way to handle bereavement leave in a modern workplace? How can HRs ensure such a delicate workplace policy aligns with their company values and promotes a positive corporate culture? Which guidelines should be included in a policy that supports your employees?
Below, we will discuss all this and more – starting with the definition of bereavement and compassionate leave in today’s professional landscape.
Table of Contents:
What is Bereavement Leave?
Bereavement leave is time off that an employee takes after the death of a family member or loved one. Its purpose is to give space to deal with funeral arrangements, attend memorial services, and process grief.
Bereavement leave policies vary by country, employer, and, often, by the size of a company. Generally, immediate family members (parents, children, spouses, and siblings) are the people for whom employees can take bereavement leave, but some policies allow for extended family members as well — even close friends or pets in some cases.
Bereavement leave recognizes that there may be emotional and practical obstacles following a loss — stuff like making funeral arrangements — so it provides workers with legally mandated time off to grieve and support their families.
What Is Compassionate Leave?
Compassionate leave is also paid or unpaid time off that employees receive to deal with important personal matters. Should they experience an illness, injury, or death of a family member or a close friend, compassionate leave allows employees to attend to any critical matter.
The duration of compassionate leave may vary depending on an employer’s policies as well as on the local labor laws. Some employers have fixed periods, whereas others provide additional days off based on how serious the situation is.
Compassionate leave is about recognizing an employee’s need to take care of urgent and personal matters without jeopardizing one’s job. It shows that employers understand the situation and give people some time off during tough moments.
What to Include in Bereavement Leave Policy?
Workplace policy on bereavement and compassionate leave is not something job candidates discuss during initial job interviews, but this document should certainly be a part of corporate policies HRs make public during the onboarding stage – and preferably, even sooner. It should be a clear and concise document that explicitly details the following aspects.
Eligibility Criteria
A bereavement leave policy should first explain who is eligible for the leave, for example, only full-time or also part-time employees. Other important criteria clearly stated in a company’s bereavement leave policy should include:
- family relationships that make an employee eligible (e.g., immediate family, extended family)
- number of days an employee is allowed for each family member.
- whether the leave will be paid or unpaid (and how many days for each family member are paid)
- any additional requirements when requesting leave, such as who should be notified and what (if any) documentation is needed.
Required Documents
Here, HRs should list which documents employees are required to produce as proof of why they need time off. Normally, an official death certificate, along with any documentation that shows a legal or blood relationship, is enough.
Some employers may also ask to fill out a leave request – of course, they would prefer a notification in advance, but with sudden death, that is not always an option. Prior notifications may apply to compassionate leave, though – so HRs should specify how many days in advance the request should be filled out.
Duration
Bereavement leave length can be determined by the employer’s workplace policy, employee’s relationship with the deceased person, and labor laws when applicable. In general, it can range between 3 to 7 days if an immediate family member dies.
Some companies offer unpaid leave or flexibility for partners or extended family members. Ideally, employers should also consider their employees’ cultural and religious practices to determine how much time off they will be granted.
Payment
Once again, best practices differ and will largely depend on the situation. Some employers offer fully paid bereavement leave so that employees can take some time off work without worrying about their finances.
Others offer partially paid or unpaid leave based on the employer’s workplace policy and the employee’s contract. Here, leave duration is also important – for example, the first week can be fully-paid, while any extra time off can be paid in part or unpaid.
Some organizations will pay a minimum amount required by law, provided such laws are in place. In most cases, this amount is within the employee’s discretion. All in all, it makes sense to pay the same figure as the employees would have earned had they been at work – but, of course, companies can usually compensate employees in full only if the leave is short.
Other Benefits
These can vary from company to company, but ensuring access to counseling services or an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) that can provide grief support is always a good start. Many employers also offer flexible work arrangements, while others cover funeral expenses and legal services.
In any case, by offering these additional benefits, employers are basically saying, “We’re here for you.” And that matters in a company that values its employees and its brand image.
How to prolong
Basic employee rights on prolonging their bereavement leave also differ from country to country, so it usually falls onto the organization to regulate this matter. This section of workplace policy should clearly indicate:
- What employees are eligible for an extended leave;
- Whether it’s paid or unpaid;
- Maximum leave duration;
- Any other conditions, i.e., if the extra days will use accrued paid time off (PTO), vacation days, etc.
In a way, this is a short replica of the general workplace policy, but focusing on taking extended extra time off. Clearly, it’s wise to grant grieving employees the additional time they need. But it’s even wiser to offer psychological support and comprehensive coping strategies at work to ensure your colleagues can slowly return to normal.
How Else to Support Employees?
Besides the obligatory steps required by law, employers can go the extra mile to show their support for grieving staff members. And even though all people cope with grief in their own way, these policies may show your colleagues that you care about them and their emotional well-being:
- Consider the need for Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs): even though the US does not have federal laws that regulate bereavement and compassionate leave at work, the US Office of Personnel Management offers free counseling and support to organizations that apply for EAPs.
- Encourage flexible working hours so that employees can gradually build-up back into work.
- Invest in manager training to ensure all bereavement requests are handled with empathy yet uniformly, following the company guidelines.
- Create safe spaces for grief where employees feel supported, respected, and comfortable to share their experience of loss.
- Encourage peer support to create a compassionate workplace environment where everyone is empathetic, understanding, and ready to lend a helping hand.
- Organize memorial services or tributes to help employees get closure (but always ask for their leave to do so first).
- Provide resources, i.e., free counseling and therapy from a third-party expert. Once again, such help should only be introduced with the employee’s explicit consent. Alternatively, remind the grieving employee about free platforms that help cope with loss.
Most importantly, assure your grieving employees that their job is secure and they can take their time to grieve and cope with loss. After all, it all goes down to helping colleagues deal with grief without adding more to their stress.
Conclusion
Finally, keep in mind that even with all of those policies in place, coping with grief always affects one’s productivity and engagement levels. In one of our previous posts, we have already discussed strategies to prevent ‘quiet quitting,’ a performance pattern when employees work to meet the minimum job demands, but never more. Some of these strategies may also prove useful when your colleagues go back to work after a compassionate leave. Still, the best tip is to handle each bereavement case separately. While a flexible, well-crafted bereavement leave policy is a must-have in every company, offering your colleagues grief support is an even more delicate matter, and the entire team should handle it with extreme caution.
