Managing bereavement in the workplace

HR expert David Wright looks at the sensitive subject of bereavement. Sadly bereavement is a fact of life for us all. It is estimated that 10% of the UK workforce, directly or indirectly, experience a bereavement each year. It can have an impact on an employee for months or even years, similarly it certainly affects their colleagues and their clients. So what should we do to manage the potentially conflicting demands of supporting an employee but keeping the business running following a bereavement? Here are some questions I have received recently on the subject. Do staff get paid time off to attend a funeral? The simple answer is no. The Employment Rights Act says that employers should grant reasonable time off for an employee to deal with an emergency such as a bereavement. It is up to the employer to decide if the time off is paid or unpaid. I think it’s a good idea to have a policy rather than trying to consider each case individually. Every circumstance is different and you might treat the death of  a close family member differently to that of a  friend or distant relative. I want to write a time off policy. How much time off should I allow following a bereavement? There isn’t a right or wrong legal answer. This is an area where I think there is scope for individual discretion. Many time off  policies say  “up to five days” for a bereavement, this gives the employer discretion to discuss and consider the individual circumstances. This flexibility also gives the employer the opportunity to split the leave with time off at the time of the bereavement but saving a day for the day of the funeral. Some employer’s  policies specify that time off is only given in relation to the loss of close family but time off will be granted for the funeral of distant relatives and friends, in-laws etc. There might be circumstances where all that is required is time off to attend a funeral of  a distant relative or a friend. But it is impossible to generalise for example a grandparent might have been a surrogate parent or shared the family home for the last decade. The auntie might live next door or have emigrated to Canada 30 years ago. What about in-laws and step parents? Clearly every situation is different. My advice is write a general policy giving guidelines rather than trying to cover every situation. A pregnant member of staff has sadly lost her baby. What time off do I grant her? The only other circumstance covered by the law is the sad case of a still birth where the pregnancy has reached 24 weeks, in these cases the mother is entitled to the full period of maternity leave and statutory maternity pay. What should I do about contacting a member of staff following the sudden death of their partner? The general advice is to make contact with employee and keep in touch. When there is a sudden bereavement the employee probably only needs to be told to forget about work for a number of days and that you will contact them at an agreed time. It is at the second conversation you can give yourself the opportunity to bring into the conversation the following

• What leave you can grant and if its paid or unpaid
• the opportunity to use annual leave to supplement bereavement leave
• the opportunity to have some unpaid leave on top of bereavement leave
• a temporary reduction in their working days/hours
• in some cases it might even be appropriate to discuss the option of a short career break

The more options you have at your disposal then the more likely it will be that you can find some common ground with the employee. Every employee will react differently and all you can do is to ask them how and when they would wish to be contacted. You must not  ignore the fact that the bereavement impacts. on other staff and even clients. You can only ask what message your employee wants to be passed onto work colleagues and their client and if they wish to receive calls or messages.   David Wright advises Habia and a range of salons across the UK. For an all-inclusive fee of £225, plus VAT, per annum you are able to contact him with all your employment queries and he will guide you through difficult staff issues. The fee is all inclusive no matter how many times you need him. Contact David on 07930 358067, 01302 563691 or visit www.davidwrightpersonnelsupport.co.uk