The full productivity of a business depends on the emotional health of its employees. Employers should remember that each worker has the right to a leave of absence as a result of death. It’s important that employees learn more about the compassionate leave after death policy before working with a company.
Leave of Absence
A leave of absence (LOA) is the permission to leave a workplace temporarily while remaining an employee. It is not the same as taking a vacation, celebrating a holiday or observing a religious day. The cause of the leave is exceptional, such as a life-threatening accident or a death in the family, and not included as part of workplace benefits. Each company has a LOA policy that explains the requirements to receive a leave of absence, the pay and the amount of time off.
Employees can take either a paid or unpaid leave of absence. The employer determines that. Most paid leaves occur because of an injury, bereavement or short-term illness. An unpaid leave may occur when the employee is under investigation for suspicious behavior. While an employee can also request unpaid time off to go on a planned trip or tend to a sick relative.
Compassionate Leave After Death
Most employees are granted paid leave after the death of a close family member or friend occurs. Bereavement pay allows for paid time off to grieve a death, which includes planning and attending a funeral. They continue to receive pay, allowing them to focus on recovering from their loss.
The significance of the death varies with each company. The death of a beloved pet is usually not significant enough to earn a leave of absence. However, each company has different policies that affect how long their employees are allowed to grieve on their own.
Grief Counseling
Some workers need time off to attend grief counseling services. Some individuals and families deal with grief on their own, but many recover better with the help of therapy. Most employers do not offer direct counseling services to employees; however, they should show their compassion by creating a sympathetic bereavement policy. Employees who do not receive emotional support will struggle in their work and make bad decisions that affect the entire company.
Unexpected events are guaranteed to happen to every business. There are the typical reasons that employees leave their jobs temporarily, such as vacations and sick days. Then, there are more serious reasons why they must leave, such as a death in the family. Employers must recognize employees who have lost loved ones and create a policy that includes bereavement pay. Employees should ensure that they are given the full rights to bereavement.