Grief and absenteeism: make clear agreements

As long as there is no legal bereavement leave, it is up to the employer to handle this properly. The death of a loved one can lead to a period of absence for the employee. In practice, I see that employers often struggle with this. By making good arrangements or policies in advance, you can prevent employees from being out of action for an extended period, or worse, leaving your organization altogether.

By Myrtille van Hout

Show genuine involvement
There are still employers who believe that grief is not an illness and therefore expect their employees to simply come to work. However, an employee in mourning who receives insufficient support and guidance will not feel heard or seen. As a result, a well-functioning employee may lose motivation and start to perform worse. Grief can also lead to physical problems; it is all interconnected. That is why it is important for managers to show genuine involvement with the grieving employee. Cocky van Ravensteijn has written a beautiful blog about this. She also demonstrates that grief is broader than just loss through death.

Make arrangements with the employee
Because there is no statutory bereavement leave, it is important as an employer to provide clarity yourself. You can do this by making arrangements with the employee and recording them. It is important to know exactly what is going on, for example, a sick partner who is about to pass away. In that case, someone is needed at home a lot and you might suggest 50% leave, 50% sick leave, or partly working from home. You can also agree whether the employee can take paid or unpaid leave after the death, or have adjusted hours. Be creative with the solutions. However, make sure it is not too non-committal; set a deadline. Especially in these kinds of situations, you want to avoid any miscommunication.

Create policy
If the employee is truly unable to work due to grief and sorrow, you can report them as sick. But often, that is not necessary. It helps enormously if you, as an employer, create policy so that employees know what they can come to you for. For example, if one of the parents passes away and the employee wants to be there for them in the coming period, that there is an arrangement for that. This provides a great deal of peace of mind. So think carefully about how you want to demonstrate good employer practices in these situations and support your employee.

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