Bereavement | Why sickness absence is rarely the answer

By Tracey Ward, Head of Business Development & Marketing at Generali UK Employee Benefits

“Quite often, we see that when compassionate leave comes to an end, an employer moves an employee on to sickness absence. This might be helpful to give the employee a little extra time, but it also runs the risk of medicalising bereavement,” says Kay Needle, Early Intervention & Rehabilitation Expert at Generali UK Employee Benefits. In a minority of cases – perhaps where an existing condition is exacerbated by the bereavement – sickness absence might well be appropriate. But, in the majority of cases, there are other, more helpful things employers can do.

In this article, we interview Kay to learn how post-bereavement experience impacts employee attitudes towards their workplace. We ask how employers can best provide support. And we hear about the lived experience of one of our own employees, Claims Assessor Dan Johnson.

Tracey: What is bereavement and grief? And how might such an experience impact employee attitudes to their workplace?