Let’s talk about grief: bereavement policies in evolving workplace

Grief and bereavement leave are complex issues for many employers. Your policy may provide only three to five days of leave, while the fallout from the death of a loved one can rarely be encapsulated in such a relatively short time frame. In addition, even before the death occurred, you may have been dealing with substantive leave issues caused by illness, injury, or other circumstances and struggling to fill the missing employee’s role. And in worst-case scenarios, you may have had to confront an individual for abusing the system by reporting the same relative died multiple times. While there are no simple or easy solutions, you should focus on certain laws when crafting a policy appropriate for your corporate culture.

Providing proof someone has died

Defined bereavement leave is a specific set of days set aside for an employee to be away. It may be created by a policy or, in some instances, state or local law. Many policies call for some form of proof of bereavement, such as an obituary or a legal death notice. Note there’s a big difference between requesting a death certificate, which isn’t going to be readily available to most bereaved, and accepting a legal notice such as a posting in the paper.

Weighing the proof of bereavement is further complicated by digital and social media platforms. It can be hard to judge if a social media notice is real. “Proof” isn’t always useful, and you’ll need to assess how intrusive your request is versus its actual business value.