Support your employees through loss and grief
Grieving can lead to absenteeism for psychological reasons. It is important to know how to deal with an employee who is mourning the death of someone close to them.
What does grieving mean for work?
Grieving can affect the kind of work your employee can handle. But also, for example, the amount of work. This varies per person and from moment to moment or day to day. There is no time limit to mourning. Your employee may experience symptoms or feel very emotional only months after the death of a loved one. The effects of grieving may also return more strongly after being absent for a time. To reconcile work and grief, your employee needs customised support.
Work as support
Work can also make a positive contribution to the grieving process. Work can provide:
- structure and rhythm in the employee’s days
- social support
- a listening ear
- distraction
- satisfaction in feeling that they are contributing to society
What can you do?
The most important thing is to understand your employee's situation and offer support and guidance. For this, you need to know that a grieving process looks different for everyone and for every situation. And that there is no fixed time frame for grieving and no standard approach. It is also important to know what the options are for bereavement leave within your organisation.
The days immediately after the death of your employee's loved one
During this period, there are various moments and ways you can support your employee. You may have a protocol for this within your business or organisation. This may include, for example, whether someone from your organisation will attend the funeral.
Also let your employee know how leave can be arranged for these days. Show clearly what the leave options include. You are not supporting your employee if you simply refer them to a website.
The following period
Some employees want to return to work as soon as possible, while others are very reluctant to do so. It varies per employee what is needed. Keep talking and, above all, listen carefully. After each contact moment, you can agree on the next moment you will speak again. Do not leave the initiative for contact to your employee alone. Keep asking your employee how things are going. Always do this at a quiet moment and take your time.
Make sure you engage and stay in conversation with your employee about work. Discuss together how your employee can pick up the work again. What adjustments in activities, working hours, or workplace are possible? What is realistic? Point out that as a manager, you must also consider what is necessary for the business or organisation. Together, try to find a workable situation for now.
Your employee may need extra support in combining grief and work. You can tell your employee about the options available within your organisation. These may include:
- grief counselling by your company social work provider.
- preventive care from the company doctor.
What arrangements are there?
Agreements for bereavement leave are often included in the collective labour agreement (CAO). You may also have included rules on bereavement leave in your own terms of employment. A law setting out leave due to a death in a family situation is planned. Employees working full-time will be entitled to take 5 working days of bereavement leave.
Your employee can use emergency leave. This leave varies from a few hours to several days and is valid only in the event of the death of an immediate family member. Emergency leave also applies to employees on temporary contracts or who are still on probation. You continue to pay the salary unless the CAO states otherwise.
The Flexible Working Act allows your employee to ask for an adjustment of working hours, workplace, and working time. This can help to better combine work and grief. You can reject a request for flexible working only for compelling business or service reasons. Read more about the Flexible Working Act in practice.