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Grief can affect all aspects of a person’s life. Yet modern workplaces are woefully behind when it comes to supporting employees through a loss.
Around 90% of employers offer bereavement leave, according to the Society for Human Resource Management’s 2022 employee benefits survey, up from 81% in 2016. But 60% of employers still only offer up to three days off, according to Option B, a nonprofit co-founded by former Meta COO Sheryl Sandberg to help people navigate loss and hardship. The organization recently launched a national advocacy campaign urging employers to improve their policies.
Option B recommends employers expand their bereavement policies beyond three to five days, and although they don’t have a set number in mind for how long it should be, they say that “best-in-class” companies offer up to 20 days for the death of an immediate family member, including Meta, Bank of America, and Goldman Sachs.
“From a business perspective, investing more in expanded bereavement leave makes a lot of sense,” says Rachel Thomas, CEO of OptionB.Org and LeanIn.Org. “People are distracted, understandably, they’re not fully present when they’re grieving.” She adds that it’s a type of leave that employees typically won’t use as often as other paid time off.
But experts say there are other ways that employers can expand their bereavement policies, including flexibility about when the leave can be taken, and what type of loss qualifies for time off.
“Modern policies are doing away with language that defines family by calling out specific roles in favor of more broad inclusive language, like the loss of a loved one,” says Heather Eastman, area vice president at consulting firm Gallagher’s human resources consulting & compensation practice. “And then secondarily, they’re also frequently being expanded to include pregnancy loss, both for men and women.”
Around 69% of employers currently offer paid bereavement leave for extended family or friends, or plan to do so by sometime next year, according to HR consulting firm Mercer’s Survey on Health & Benefit Strategies for 2024 report. And 58% plan to do the same for miscarriage bereavement.
At a time when leading with empathy is imperative for corporate leaders to attract and retain talent, expanding your bereavement leave is arguably one of the easiest ways to do that.
“From a risk perspective, enhancing or expanding a policy like this is a fairly low-risk, financial move to make, but it can do a lot for enhancing the culture of the organization,” says Eastman. And she adds that when it comes to recruiting, “being able to showcase a really modern and enhanced bereavement policy is just another arrow in the quiver.”
Paige McGlauflin
paige.mcglauflin@fortune.com
@paidion
Reporter's Notebook
The most compelling data, quotes, and insights from the field.
About 45% of employees at LGBTQ dating app Grindr were forced to resign after the company implemented a return-to-office order mandating that workers come in two days a week.
Out of 178 employees, 80 will no longer be working for the company. And CEO George Arison said that Grindr expects even more attrition, which will “impact margin in a positive way in the near term.”
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A round-up of the most important HR headlines.
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Watercooler
Everything you need to know from Fortune.
Workers aren’t feeling it. New data from ADP’s Employee Motivation & Commitment Index shows steep drops in employee engagement, commitment, and connection among the workers surveyed. It’s possible that the isolation of remote work and the tension surrounding return-to-office mandates are to blame. —Jane Thier
Changing route. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi went undercover to see what it was like to work for his own company, and came back with a presentation titled “Why We Suck.” According to Khosrowshahi, the answer is that the company has neglected its gig workers and worried too much about customers. —Rachel Ventresca
Discount on wages. Walmart is hitting the brakes on recent wage increases and cutting starting pay for new hires, in a sign that the U.S. labor market is cooling down. —Chloe Taylor
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