Twenty-one percent of employees who have lost a loved one would like to take more time off in order to work through and manage their grief.
A survey of 2,003 respondents for the health insurer MetLife found that more than half (55%) said it could take up to eight weeks before they felt “normal” at work.
It took more than eight weeks for more than 13% of workers to return to work.
MetLife has pointed out that the average compassionate leave in Britain is between three and five days.
Nearly one fifth (17%) of respondents felt that their employer providing access to bereavement and counselling would have made it easier for them to manage their loss.
Another 15% of respondents said their employers offering practical assistance, such as helping to contact accountants or closing bank account for the deceased would be helpful.
One in ten (12%) respondents even said that their employer helping them with funeral arrangements would be a support.
Charlotte O’Brien from MetLife UK’s employee benefits department said: “We are aware that compassion leave policies vary across the UK. The average is between three and five working days. Our research shows that over half of bereaved workers say it takes them between one and eight week to feel normal at work.
“That is 50% of your employees back at work physically, but not mentally. There is a clear gap between what’s given and what’s needed!” We can’t change the length of compassionate leaves in the UK but we can influence how workers are supported when they are not themselves.
“Whether it’s offering counseling or easing their additional ‘workload,’ with funeral planning and administrative tasks, we believe life insurance is about fully supporting employees when they’re bereaved and time-poor, and at a lost,” O’Brien said.
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