By Gavin Mackintosh-
Acas has published new guidance to help employers support staff undergoing an experience of a bereavement. The guidance offers advice on employees’ legal right to time off work and what pay they might be entitled to after somebody close to them dies, including the right to parental bereavement leave that was introduced in April 2020.
The guidance makes suggestions for employers to support employees following the death of a loved one, including what they should do to support colleagues if someone they work with dies. Most of the guidance has deaths arising from the pandemic as a background to the directions given, but addresses bereavements arising from deaths in general.
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The authours of the guidance highlight the fact that death can be unexpected or become serious very quickly and can affect the level of grief felt by the bereaved family member of one who has passed away. The report claims that bereaved family members who are not present for the death or couldn’t view the body it can take time to accept the reality of the death.
Senior Policy adviser, Adrian Wakeling explains grief to be a natural response people have when they experience a death which can have an impact on people’s work. The physical and emotional wellbeing of bereaved individuals once they have returned to work can vary from person to person and calls for a reasonable level of tolerance on empathy from employers and colleagues of those who are bereaved.
Having lost his mother and mother-in-law in quick succession towards the end of last year, he speaks of the unbearable and disorientating future without them that casts his mind back to childhood.
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The importance of empathy is given an important consideration for employers to consider when dealing with employees who may be suffering with the inevitable anger that can arise from losing someone especially when someone has died before their time or plans for the future together. It’s also common to feel angry towards the person who has died, or angry at ourselves for things we did or didn’t do before their death.
Highlighting the impact the death of a loved one can have on people through depression, he says :”Sadness and longing are what we think of most often when we think about grief. This pain can be very intense and come in waves over many months or years. Life can feel like it no longer holds any meaning which can be very scary.
The report calls for employers to be sensitive to what each person might need during the course of their employment, considering the person’s physical and emotional wellbeing following their return to work and recognizing the different effect the loss of a loved one can have on different people.
Underlying the report is the fact that may families who have recently returned to work are still grieving the deaths of their loved ones caused by the pandemic. The obstacle of anger for those who feel someone is to blame for a loved one’s death
Acas chief executive Susan Clews said: “The death of a loved one is a devastating and life changing experience for any employee. It can impact someone at work immediately as well as long-term.
“We also cannot ignore the effect that the Covid-19 pandemic has had on staff who have been unable to grieve in the usual way. Some people could not be with loved ones when they died or were not able to give them a proper send-off. “Our new bereavement advice can help employers handle these difficult situations in a supportive, compassionate and practical way as well as understanding the law in this area.”
Employers are expected to be sensitive to what each person might need at the time and consider the person’s physical and emotional wellbeing, including once they’ve returned to work, and
recognize that grief affects everyone differently, there is no right or wrong way to grieve and it can affect people at different times following a death”.
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