Bereavement In The Workplace
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As everyone who has experienced it will know, bereavement may be one of the most devastating things any of us will ever go through. It impacts all aspect of an individual’s life – including their work life, and it is important that businesses support their colleagues and put some considerations in place should a team member or a family member become bereaved. We hope that this document will provide some useful guidance to enable your business to fully support your colleagues and teams through a bereavement in a compassionate and sensitive way.
What to do if a colleague dies If a colleague dies, it can deeply affect other employees and the workplace.
As a compassionate employer you should:
- Contact the person’s family or next of kin to offer condolences
- Acknowledge the passing by telling colleagues that a person has died, in a sensitive and personal way
Every company will do this differently, but here are some guidelines to help with that difficult conversation:
- Decide how much news you should share. To protect the deceased employee’s privacy, the family might prefer that you not disclose certain information to their colleagues.
- Call a meeting with your employees and express that you have some sad news to disclose. Be direct and concise but also tactful and sympathetic.
- Explain that the employee has regretfully passed away.
- Express how the news has affected you personally and recall a fond memory or two about the employee.
- Notify staff members outside of your direct supervision as soon as possible. In this case, you could send a brief email to managers, supervisors, and employees in other departments. You could also include external contacts that the deceased employee worked with, such as suppliers and clients. But the company must decide if this is appropriate and may want to seek approval from the family first.
- Call employees who are on short-term leave or are temporarily out of the office and inform them accordingly. Do this for employees who were in the deceased employee’s immediate work group. This prevents them from feeling left out upon their return. You can notify other employees who are on leave via email.
- Offer support to all staff affected by the death.
- Signpost colleagues to support services that may be available. If you are unsure where to start, you can call our Family Services Team at Heart of Kent Hospice who will help to signpost you to the best services to support your colleague.
- Ensure colleagues know how they can give their condolences.
- If appropriate and if staff are invited, share details of the funeral or ceremony.
