Bereavement is one of the most common factors that impacts employees performance in the workplace at any one point in time 1 in 10 employees are affected by bereavement and 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 suffering 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.

Reports call for improved training to support all staff in regular contact with people who have been recently bereaved and recognises this to be particularly important for line managers who play a significant part in influencing a grieving employee’s experience of their workplace.

Yet even the most senior personnel can feel deskilled in situations of bereavement, and colleagues 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 provide this training tailored to meet your organisation’s particular needs and challenges around this subject at a time and location to suit you.

For more information email the training team or call 01494 568926 to talk through your requirements.

Our cultural policy is ‘Everybody better off’ and we invest heavily in our staff as we believe if you treat your employees right your customer gets a better service.  Child Bereavement UK’s workplace training fits with this philosophy and 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

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