Is it possible that you inadvertently created at least one really stupid, infuriating, and insulting policy disguised as a benefit?
I’m going to tell you something about Bereavement Leave policies, and you’re probably not going to like it. ðŸ˜
Lots of companies offer paid bereavement leave for when an employee’s immediate family member passes away.
This leave is usually for three days. Sometimes it’s for “up to three days.”
And inevitably, the bereaved employee feels anger on top of their grief. My spouse / father / sister passed away, and all I get is a lousy three days off of work? CRUEL! COLD!
Here’s the company’s position: bereavement leave is usually designed to allow an employee to travel to a memorial service, attend a memorial service, then travel back from the memorial service. That’s why the magic number of bereavement days is three.
Bereavement leave is not designed for what a bereft employee actually needs: Time for grieving. Time to connect with family members they may not see often and renew their familial ties. Time to figure out final arrangements and the logistics of settling estates.
But employees don’t understand that. Your kind offer to pay employees who’ve lost a family member seems like a slap in the face to them by acting like three days should be enough to get over the loss.
If your company has such a three-day Bereavement Leave policy, I encourage you to make three easy improvements to it right now.
🙌 Change the word “bereavement” to “funeral.” Employees need way more than three days to be bereaved, but generally only three days to attend a funeral.
🙌 Make sure that your policy clarifies that the funeral leave is a benefit that is intended to allow for travel to a memorial service. If your policy is silent on this, employees will naturally assume you’re a cruel company who thinks that all grieving should be wrapped up in three days.
🙌Acknowledge that employees may wish to take more than three days off when a family member passes away, and remind them of your other Leave programs that can be requested. Generally, there will be Paid Time Off that an employee can use and the opportunity to request an unpaid leave of absence too if there is no PTO.
These changes are a quick, easy way to take your Bereavement Leave policy from “cold” to “as compassionate as possible.” No, it won’t make grieving employees happy — you’ll still hear some employees complain about how you forced them back to work after three measly days — but it will help smooth the edges of an often-misunderstood and despised policy.
