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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?
Kay: Bereavement is the experience of losing somebody important to us. And this experience is characterised by grief. Grief is the process and range of emotions we often go through when we experience loss. We detailed the Kübler-Ross theory of the five stages of grief in one of our recent articles.
On the subject of employee attitudes, research into bereavement in the workplace by charity Marie Curie, found that more than half (56%) of employees would consider leaving their employer if treated badly following a bereavement. 43% felt pressurised to return to work before they were ready. And 1 in 3 line managers (31%) would welcome help on how to support bereaved employees.
So, clearly this is an area where we’re not necessarily providing an adequate response within the workplace.
Tracey: What do you think is the cause of such negative employee attitudes about their workplace?
Kay: I think we have to appreciate as people managers and as businesses that our employees move through the stages of grief in different orders. It can also be a very long process.
There is a legal right to time off for a funeral if a dependant dies. There’s no legal right to time off for a funeral if the person who died was not a dependant. However, most organisations offer time off; this is what’s known as compassionate leave.
There’s no legal requirement for that to be paid time off, but some employers might offer pay. And there’s no guidance on how you’re entitled to. Most commonly, it’s three to five days.
But, what next? After three to five days, the funeral might not have even taken place and the individual is highly likely to be still in shock. It’s when compassionate leave comes to an end that we often see employers moving their employee on to sickness leave. It seems like a logical step. But it also runs the risk of medicalising the bereavement.
If you think about what might happen during that sickness leave, the individual might go to their GP and receive a Fit Note; maybe for two to four weeks. And it might state something like ‘bereavement and low mood’. Hopefully that person is at home being supported by family and friends. If not, then they’ve also potentially lost the social support of work colleagues.
They’ve also lost their routine and the sense of identity that we get from good work. There’s also the perception of ourselves once we start telling people we’re unwell; that we’re too ill to work because of our mental health. That’s a powerful message that we can internalise and start to feel we’re not coping well.
Tracey: So, how can employers best provide support?
Kay: In my opinion, putting someone on sick leave isn’t usually the answer. I think a more generous compassionate leave policy – one that is discretionary – would be welcomed.
When compassionate leave ends, there are lots of things employers can do to help support employees. There does need to be a proactive conversation about them coming back to work; one where employers genuinely listen. But employees need to understand, as part of this, that a return doesn’t have to be a case of all or nothing.
They can be supported back with alternative duties, for example. They might also benefit from signposting to the Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), for emotional support. That might include conversations about how the individual intends to get back to work to what help they might need.
If the employer has group income protection in place, I’d suggest they engage with their insurer early. That way, the insurer can help prevent what shouldn’t be a medical situation, in the majority of cases, from becoming one.
There’s a lot that insurers can do to help with recovery and return to work at an early stage, before we get to the point where a claim might be needed.
Such claims are, in the main, declined because bereavement isn’t a mental illness, as already mentioned. However, there are going to be those situations where somebody does have a medical context to their bereavement. For example, individuals with a pre-existing medical condition, particularly a mental health condition, that might be exacerbated by the experience.
Tracey: Dan, what happened when it was time for you to return to work here at Generali UK? What worked well? What tips can you provide to employers?
Dan: First, to help put my story into context, me and my family suffered a miscarriage after a previously successful scan. It was an instant that was meant to be one of the best moments of our lives and it became devastation. I’d previously suffered from depression and anxiety. And I think this was exacerbated by the bereavement.
I really wasn’t in a good place, so I took compassionate leave and also some annual leave. I probably opted to come back to work too early, but I felt it would give me a sense of normality. My manager listened and understood that I was OK with people on the team knowing, but I didn’t want questions. Everyone respected that. Also, being in a customer facing role, I didn’t want to deal with certain claims [bereavement] and this was accommodated, as was my preference for hybrid working.
Although I avoided counselling for some time and didn’t want to go to my GP, I felt ready to seek support after a period of mourning; when it became apparent to me that I couldn’t pretend that nothing had happened. I needed to process the grief and, for me, that was a good time to seek support via my employer’s EAP.
Ultimately, grief is horrible. But it’s something that we’re all going to experience at some point. In the workplace, communication and listening are key. This isn’t about trying to solve things for others. It’s just about looking out for one another.
This is a message – a useful tip for line managers and colleagues - I took from one of the baby loss charities, that do a wonderful job. They said, try to start conversations with things like: “I’m not sure what to say, but if you need to talk, you know where I am. I’m always happy to listen.”
*The information in this article is based on a recent Generali UK webinar entitled ‘How to best support employees dealing with grief’. To access a free recording of the full webinar, please email [email protected].
Disclaimer:
All information contained herein represents the views and opinions of the author as at the date of writing and is provided for general information only. Nothing herein constitutes or is intended to constitute financial or other form of advice and no individual should rely upon the information provided in making a specific investment decision without first seeking independent professional advice.
