A Study to Understand the Impact of Bereavement Grief on the Workplace

Abstract

Although most employees and business owners or operators will likely experience the death of one or more loved ones over their work lives, attention has not focused on how bereavement grief impacts the workplace. A study was conducted for foundational information. Data on the annual incidence of bereavement leaves and related matters were collected from a relatively representative sample of small, medium, and large Canadian organizations. Two of every three organizations had 1+ employees take a bereavement leave last year, with 3.2% of all employees taking a bereavement leave consisting of 2.5 days on average and often with additional travel and accommodation days. The findings suggest that more should be done by organizations to prepare for bereavement leaves and assisted work returns. This preparation is essential for the tsunami of bereavement grief in the years ahead as deaths increase rapidly in number with population aging.

The C.A.R.E. model of employee bereavement support.

“…However, there is little guidance on how to effectively manage employees during bereavement. We extend prior research on grief at work (e.g., Hazen, 2008, 2009; Kinder & Cooper, 2009; Stein & Winokuer, 1989; Tehan & Thompson, 2013; Vickers, 2005; Wilson et al, 2019) by exploring bereaved employees’ experiences in the workplace following the loss of an immediate family member. We specifically aim to examine how bereaved employees can be supported effectively at work.…”

“…Interview questions were based on our research questions and broadly asked about any factors that influenced the return-to-work experience after loss and who or what was supportive or unsupportive. The bereavement literature suggests that bereavement leave policies and policy implementation may be important (McGuinness, 2009; Moss, 2017; Wilson et al, 2019), and also that support may come from multiple sources (Charles-Edwards, 2009; Sunoo & Sunoo, 2002), so we directed participants to think about these issues and the various sources of support (or lack thereof) in the workplace. We ensured that the questions were phrased in a non-directive, unobtrusive manner.…”

“…Almost the entire workforce will experience grief at least once during their careers (Eyetsemitan, 1998; Gibson et al, 2010; Wilcox et al, 2015; Wilson et al, 2019). A “tsunami of bereavement grief” (Wilson et al, 2019, p. 1) is imminent due to the world’s aging population as well as to deaths due to COVID-19 and will have direct effects on employees and the workplace.…”

“…Although the estimated grief recovery period is one to 2 years (Bonanno & Kaltman, 2001; Zhang et al, 2006), the average bereavement leave in Canada is short (on average 2.5 days plus 1.7 days for travel; Wilson et al, 2019). Bereavement leave policies in other Western countries, such as the United Kingdom, also allot an average of 3 days off (see MacDonald et al, 2015).…”

“…To date, these impacts have not been well-examined. Although a comprehensive understanding of grief has been developed (e.g., Parkes, 1964;Stroebe et al, 1993;Thompson et al, 1991), little is known about the experience of bereaved employees in the workplace context or about best practices for supporting these employees (Eyetsemitan, 1998;Gilbert & Kelloway, 2021;Hazen, 2003Hazen, , 2008Tehan & Thompson, 2013;Wilson et al, 2019). Our study answers calls for more research on the subject of grief in the workplace (Charles-Edwards, 2009;Hazen, 2009;Kinder & Cooper, 2009;Stein & Winokuer, 1989;Vickers, 2005;Wilson et al, 2019) by developing a model of employee bereavement support that is grounded in the complex experiences of bereaved employees after the loss of a close family member.…”