An introduction to Child Bereavement UK's Bereavement in the Workplace Training, hosted by Bank of England

Bereavement is one of the most common factors that impacts employees’ performance in the workplace. At any point in time 1 in 10 employees is affected by bereavement. It has been identified as a major life event that can cause or exacerbate mental health conditions, yet research has shown that bereaved people are being failed by a lack of support in the workplace.

  • One third of employees who had been bereaved in the past 5 years did not feel they had received a compassionate response from their employer
  • 4 in 10 felt isolated at work after experiencing a loss, with 46% feeling actively avoided
  • There is a 44% increase in sickness absence following bereavement
  • 56% of employees would consider leaving their job if their employer failed to provide proper support if someone close to them died

Line managers play a significant part in influencing a grieving employee’s experience, but even the most senior personnel can feel deskilled in situations of bereavement, and colleagues can struggle with what to say and how to behave when someone returns to work.

Child Bereavement UK has developed bereavement in the workplace training - a practical, interactive training session for human resource managers, EAP, occupational health personnel, and senior and line managers in businesses and organisations of all sizes, to help them better understand and meet the needs of grieving employees.

We can tailor this training to meet your organisation’s particular needs and challenges around this subject at a time and location to suit you.

Child Bereavement UK’s workplace training has had many benefits not only when dealing with bereavement, both with staff and customers, but also helping our staff to deal with loss generally. We cannot recommend it enough.

- Barry Coleman, Head of Employee Relations, Virgin Money

To find out more, please contact Briony Markham on [email protected]

Getting ready for the Parental Bereavement Leave and Pay Regulations

In light of the Covid-19 Coranavirus pandemic, we have postponed these webinars.  We will advice of new dates in due course. 

The government recently announced the Parental Bereavement Leave and Pay Regulations (known as Jack’s Law), which come into effect on 6 April 2020, giving employed parents the right to two weeks’ paid statutory leave if their child under the age of 18 dies, or if a baby is stillborn from 24 weeks of pregnancy.

The legislation is known as Jack’s Law in memory of Jack Herd, whose mother Lucy campaigned for the new entitlement. It allows parents to take paid leave at a time that feels right for them, helping to reduce a potential source of additional stress and enabling them to make decisions based on their need, rather than financial situation.

To help businesses prepare for Jack’s Law, Child Bereavement UK has developed two FREE 30-minute webinars. The webinars will help businesses:

  • Prepare for and comply with Jack’s Law
  • Develop a bereavement aware culture in your business that supports grieving parents
  • Create bereavement policies that are right for you and your business