The UK’s CIPD has called for the right to bereavement leave and pay to be extended to all employees suffering the loss of any close family member. In an open letter to the Business Secretary Alok Sharma, the professional body for HR and people development is calling on the Government to introduce the right to bereavement leave and pay for all employees experiencing a close family bereavement.
The call follows the introduction of Jack’s Law, a legal right to paid bereavement leave for working parents who lose a child under the age of 18, in April this year. After much campaigning by Jack’s Rainbow Founder Lucy Herd, parental bereavement legislation was introduced earlier this year and named after her son – Jack’s Law.
The ongoing impact of the coronavirus pandemic highlights the need for bereavement leave to be extended to anyone suffering the loss of a close family member. The CIPD wants all staff who experience the loss of any close family member – including a parent, child, partner or sibling, whether by blood, adoption or through marriage/a partner – to have the right to two weeks’ leave or paid leave from work.
LEGAL OBLIGATIONS
Aside from Jack’s Law, there is currently no legal requirement for employers to pay employees who take leave following the death of a close family member, and while employees have the right to ‘reasonable’ time off work to deal with emergencies involving dependants, the law does not state how much time off can be taken.
The CIPD and Lucy Herd’s call has been backed by Alex James, BereavementUK Founder; Emma Donaldson-Feilder, Director of Affinity Coaching Supervision and charity Cruse Bereavement Care. Recent CIPD research has found that just over half (54%) of employees said that they were aware of their employer having a policy or support in place for employees experiencing bereavement, while many were not. Bereavement can have a significant impact on a person’s mental health and wellbeing, and organisations risk adding work-related stress to what is already a difficult situation if they do not make it clear to employees the bereavement policies and support services available to them, according to the CIPD.
BEREAVEMENT SUPPORT
“Losing a family member, partner or friend can have a devastating impact on a person’s mental health and wellbeing and employees experiencing bereavement need to be treated with compassion and support in the workplace,” highlighted Claire McCartney, Senior Resourcing and Inclusion Adviser at the CIPD. “Most people have experienced bereavement at some point, and sadly in the UK tens of thousands of people have died as a result of COVID-19 this year.”
McCartney points out that many people will not have been able to say a proper goodbye to loved ones due to coronavirus, which will have been incredibly difficult. “It is vital for organisations to properly support those who are experiencing grief and loss by developing policies that offer long-term support and to ensure that line managers are equipped to support bereaved employees. Grief is neither linear nor predictable so employers must also recognise individual circumstances,” she explained.
She believes the introduction of Jack’s Law in April was an important step forward in recognising the need for parental bereavement leave and pay. “We want to see this extended to all employees who are experiencing a bereavement of a close family member,” added McCartney. “Bereavement can have a significant impact on a person and their work and it is vital that employees are supported with appropriate time off at what is already an extremely difficult time – bereaved employees are highly unlikely to be able to perform well at work if they are forced to return too quickly.”
NEW GUIDANCE
The CIPD has also launched new guidance for employers on compassionate and comprehensive bereavement support. It encourages employers to develop a bereavement policy that empowers managers to support employees, put in place flexible working practices to best support employee needs, and provide information to employees on workplace support for bereavement. A separate line manager guide is also available, focusing on how to manage and support a member of a team who has suffered a bereavement.
The CIPD’s key recommendations include:
- Bereavement policies and support should be holistic, long term and take into account individual circumstances.
- Employers should work to be knowledgeable about the law and bereavement, including parental bereavement leave and pay and emergency time off for family and dependants.
- Employers should address health and safety obligations in relation to bereavement and avoid discrimination and address the risk of bullying.
- An open culture of support helps people feel more comfortable raising any issues and asking for support. Communicate your approach and embed this culture of support.
- Develop a bereavement policy, covering aspects like reporting a bereavement, any leave and pay and returning to work.
- Educate and support people managers to show empathy and compassion.
- Provide training and support so they understand the organisation’s bereavement policy and support structure.
- Flexibility is key: build flexible responses and be open to ongoing flexible working provisions.
- Provide information on workplace support and signpost employees to external sources of information and support.
Click here to download the CIPD’s guidance on offering bereavement support.
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