Fifth of bereaved employees would have liked more time off work – poll

A fifth of bereaved employees (21%) say they would have liked more time off to manage and work through their grief.

According to a poll of 2,003 people for health insurer MetLife, more than half (55%) felt it took them up to eight weeks to feel back to ‘normal’ at work.

For more than one in ten (13%), it took even longer, more than eight weeks to get back to normal at work.

Yet, on average, compassionate leave in the UK ranges from between three and five working days, MetLife pointed out.

Nearly a fifth of those polled (17%) felt their employer offering access to counselling and bereavement counselling would have helped them manage and work through their bereavement more easily.

A further 15% said that their employer offering practical support, such as help to contact accountants, or closing bank accounts of the deceased, would be helpful.

One in 10 (12%) even went as far to say their employer helping with funeral planning would be of support.

Charlotte O’Brien, head of employee benefits at MetLife UK, said: “We know that compassionate leave policies differ across the UK, with the average time given being between three and five days. Yet our research shows over half of the bereaved say it takes between one and eight weeks to feel like themselves at work.

“That’s 50% of your workers back in the workplace physically but not mentally; there is a clear disparity between what is given and what is needed! While there is nothing we can do about the length of compassionate leave in the UK, we can help change how supported workers are when they are naturally not themselves

“Whether that’s offering counselling or easing the additional ‘workload’ they face with funeral planning and administration, we believe that life insurance is more than just paying a lump sum upon death – it’s about fully supporting workers when they are bereaved, time-poor and at a loss,” O’Brien added.

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