National Grievance Awareness Day is 30th August.
Founded by Angie Cartwright in 2014, this day is dedicated to opening the conversation on the complex process of grief, and helping educate those who are looking to support loved ones through this difficult time.
What is grief?
Unfortunately, grief is something that everyone has or is likely to experience in some form whether it be due to the loss of a loved one, relationship or live event. Grief can take multiple forms including physical and mental distress, anxiety and a rollercoaster of emotions. As many will already know or expect, suffering the bereavement or loss of anything can consequently take a toll on one’s mental health. Each individual will both experience and deal with grief in their own way.
If an employee is experiencing grief then it is not uncommon for them to take a portion of time away from work. There are many ways in which you as the employer can look to accommodate this kind of request and exercise your duty of care.
How can you support your employees whilst they are experiencing grief?
It is common for employers to feel unsure on how to approach a situation where an employee is experiencing bereavement or loss due to its sensitive nature.
Depending on an employee’s specific circumstances, we encourage employers to have a private discussion with your employee to ask them how they are feeling etc. and outline any appropriate kinds of leave such as:
- Bereavement Leave – this is often permitted to allow an employee time away from work to plan and attend the funeral of a close family member or relative. The duration of this kind of leave is up to you as the employer (with the standard approach allowing up to five days away from work) and it can either be paid or unpaid.
- Compassionate Leave – this is often permitted to allow an employee time away from work when bereavement leave is not appropriate e.g. where the loss of a loved one is not a close family member or relative. The duration of this kind of leave is also up to you as the employer (with the standard approach allowing up to five days away from work) and again, it can either be paid or unpaid.
- Time off For Dependants – in experiencing loss, it may be that an employee’s partner, parents or child(ren) require you to attend or deal with an emergency. This kind of leave is often only granted for one or two days and is treated as unpaid. If an employee finds themselves in this predicament, they should look to inform their line manager as soon as possible.
You may already offer some or all of these kinds of leave, and may already detail the above in your existing policies. All types of leave listed above are usually considered by employers on a case-by-case basis as every individual’s circumstances can differ.
If the above options are not appropriate for an employee or an employee requires further time off then you also have the options to either:
- Allow an employee to take a portion of annual leave; or
- At your own discretion, agree to a portion of paid or unpaid leave if the relevant employee does not have enough annual leave for the remainder of their holiday year.
If you offer employee assistance programmes (EAPs) such as counselling services to your workforce then you can also look to discuss these with an employee when checking in on them.
We encourage employers to ensure that all employee policies are widely available to the workforce and to support their employees through open conversations about grief and the wider topic of mental health.
How can you support your employees’ mental health?
There are many ways that you can support your employees’ mental health – see our previous blog on World Mental Health Day for some key suggestions.
Our employment team specialises in assisting employers with family and agile work policies. Contact us to discuss your needs and find effective solutions that can make a real difference to your business.
