Hannah Swarbrick-Done’s Post

Bereavement Leave should be allowed to be taken whenever the person needs it. If you get 2 weeks off when a loved one dies, you are being given a fortnight to wade through admin. Tell family and friends. Register the death. Pick a funeral plan. Decide on flowers. Tell 5 hundred utility companies and have them make you prove it. Cancel bank accounts. Organise a wake. Pick the outfit they will wear. Decide on food and venues. And then what happens? You're back at work, wading through all the admin you have to do. Admin you likely couldn't give two shakes of a rats arse about. Aside from the days when work is the lifesaving distraction you need. But not on the days when grief hits you like post prison Mike Tyson and you can't understand why the world is even still turning. I get we have to have some sort of policy. But we get to decide what the policy is. Give them 4 weeks, 6 weeks, whatever. But let them decide when they take it. Over the course of a year. Without it affecting their sick leave or holiday entitlement. Or, if I am way off the mark and it's impossible to do this. ASK YOUR STAFF to be involved in creating the policy that affects them more than any other policy ever will. #bereavement #policies #hr ##employeeexperience #culture

Absolutely. The stark reality of managing funeral arrangements, estate matters, and personal grief within 3-5 days is a significant challenge. Expecting employees to resume work immediately after such an emotional whirlwind diminishes the gravity of their experiences. Prioritizing extended and compassionate bereavement leave is not just about policy; it's about acknowledging the human aspect of the workplace. Treating employees like humans, with understanding and empathy during these difficult times, fosters a culture of genuine care and support. It goes beyond retention – it builds a resilient, compassionate, and loyal workforce. https://lnkd.in/eYC2enZz

When it comes to bereavement leave, quality is often just as important as quantity. On top of grieving, someone needs to be responsible for settling their loved one's affairs, leaving a full time employee with an additional part-time job. Worrying about not having enough time off or pay to dedicate their time to the loss, is added stress. Many of us are aware of the emotional impact death of a loved one can have, however we forget the mental, physical, legal and financial burdens that loss imposes. If the policy doesn’t reflect this reality, it cannot be truly helpful. Read more about what is required to make a bereavement policy impactful for employees in our State of Bereavement Leave Guide. https://hubs.la/Q02B5pnG0

This is something that I want to keep talking about. My mom passed last summer (it's actually just been a year), and it was the first time I've had to take bereavement leave. I was already on vacation when it happened, so adding more time off became complicated. A week wasn't enough to do all of the things I needed to do to...idk, manage the situation? Let alone grieve. Needing to be back after 5 business days truly felt like punishment—as if I was being selfish for taking time to care for myself and my family instead of returning to work as soon as possible. I felt like I had to pretend like I wasn't grieving by the time I came back so people wouldn't be uncomfortable and could focus on their work. The way emergencies and especially bereavement are handed in workplaces is so broken. There is no button you press to make all of the things that need to happen happen. Grief is not a 5-day process you just roll out of. If you're a company that aims to be employee-friendly, your bereavement policy needs to be thoughtful. Talk to people who have had to manage end-of-life processes and get an idea of what the timeline is actually like. Don't make one of the worst experiences of someone's life even worse by making them prioritize their job over family and caring for themselves.

Recently @AdamGrant noted that less than 40% of U.S. workplaces offer more than three days of for bereavement leave. Having had several death losses, I know that three days are not enough. For instance, if you must travel to join family after the death of a loved one, you may need more than three days leave. Or if you are waiting for others to arrive before planning and conducting memorial services, you may need more than three days. Grief has its own timetable – three days barely scratches the surface of the journey it is to mourn a death. Did you find your workplace supportive after the death of a loved one? If so, what did they provide in the way of support? #bereavementleave #grief #time #workplacesupport #support #wellnesswednesday #watershedmoments 

Current time and financhial support for bereavement just doesn’t match up to the enormity of the tasks faced by the employee. Even the extended 2 week leave for child bereavement doesn’t take into account the reality of what bereaved parents have to face. The early weeks are taken up prepairing the funeral, completing your child’s life admin, connecting with schools, activities etc that the child was involved with, fending on endless questions from everyone as to what happened etc etc etc. After the funeral is over, when everyone else goes back to functioning as normal, the bereaved employee finally gets a moment to start to process what’s happened. This is the time the support of the employee’s bereavement is so needed but so often overlooked. Supporting employees by allowing flexiability in when paid bereavement leave is taken, for how long, and for what other support can be given to that employee, is vital. It helps retain employees and also their colleagues who understand that, should something happen to them, they too will be supported. Failure to support a bereaved employee doesn’t just effect that employee it can effect the wider work team.

🔍 Challenges in Hospice Bereavement Care: Insights and Industry Hurdles: 📉 Staffing and Financial Constraints: Bereavement care in hospices is hindered by systemic underfunding and staff shortages, impacting the quality of support for bereaved families. 💡 Integrated Care Approach Needed: Incorporating bereavement skills across all clinical staff, not just specialized grief counselors, could improve family support and service billing. 🌐 Pandemic-Era Adaptations: COVID-19 prompted a shift to virtual bereavement services, which require additional resources and training but offer a new avenue for support. ☀️ Community Engagement: Programs like Hospice of the Chesapeake's Camp Nabi illustrate community-backed bereavement support initiatives despite operational challenges. 📋 Lack of Clear Guidelines: The absence of specific regulatory standards for bereavement care leaves hospices without a clear blueprint, impacting consistency and quality of care. 📝 Legislative Stalemate: Efforts to define "high-quality" bereavement care in federal legislation have stalled, leaving a gap in standardized care practices. #HospiceCare #BereavementSupport #HealthcareChallenges #PalliativeCare #CareCoordinations Read the entire conversation with Dawn M. Gross MD, PhD and the article by Holly Vossel at Hospice News 🔗 https://lnkd.in/gcKrEcBY

Recently @AdamGrant noted that less than 40% of U.S. workplaces offer more than three days of for bereavement leave. Having had several death losses, I know that three days are not enough. For instance, if you must travel to join family after the death of a loved one, you may need more than three days leave. Or if you are waiting for others to arrive before planning and conducting memorial services, you may need more than three days. Grief has its own timetable – three days barely scratches the surface of the journey it is to mourn a death. Did you find your workplace supportive after the death of a loved one? If so, what did they provide in the way of support? #bereavementleave #grief #time #workplacesupport #support #wellnesswednesday #watershedmoments 

Employers everywhere need to read this article. Modern families need modern bereavement policies. Joy Portella nailed it in Public Relations Society of America (PRSA)'s Strategies & Tactics. Thank you for taking the time to write this, Joy. "Immediate family" policies should expand to match how the world sees family these days. It's not going to cost companies more. It's going to make employees feel seen and valued, and that will pay dividends, always. If you're a PRSA member, you can see the whole story. If you're not a member, DM me.

It’s been a very difficult few weeks where I have been grateful to have the time to spend with family. This in turn started me thinking about bereavement leave and how company policies can fail to serve us well at the most difficult time of our lives. Many policies will give bereavement leave for parents, spouse, children etc. But these policies fail so many with a ‘non traditional’ family background, where the direct family is in fact a non blood relative or Aunts, Grandparents. I have witnessed bereavement policies be enforced and fail those with a non traditional family background. Would it not serve us better to have the opportunity to state our ‘nominated family’ when joining an organisation, to which the bereavement policy applies. Giving support where it is actually needed rather than invoking a traditional policy in a non traditional world!! Do you know of any organisations that already do this? #employeeexperience #bereavementsupport