Employees do not get enough time off work or support to properly grieve the loss of a loved one according to research from MetLife UK.
Research carried out by Censuswide late last year with 2,003 UK consumers who have experienced a bereavement within the past 12 to 24 months, found 21% of adults said that having more time off work to grieve following a bereavement would have helped them, up from 15% who said the same in 2023.
More than half (55%) of employees disclosed it took them up to eight weeks to get back to their usual self at work after a bereavement.
For more than one in 10 (13%), it took more than eight weeks to get back to normal at work.
However, average UK compassionate leave in the UK ranges between three and five working days.
When it comes to additional support, 17% said access to counselling would be helpful, and a further 15% identified greater practical support, such as help to contact accountants, or closing bank accounts of the deceased.
And more than one in 10 (12%) suggested their employer helping with funeral planning would be of support.
Charlotte O’Brien, head of employee benefits at MetLife UK, said: “We know that compassionate leave policies differ across the UK, with the average time given being between three and five days.
“Yet our research shows over half of the bereaved say it takes between one and eight weeks to feel like themselves at work.
“That’s 50% of your workers back in the workplace physically but not mentally; there is a clear disparity between what is given and what is needed.
“While there is nothing we can do about the length of compassionate leave in the UK, we can help change how supported workers are when they are naturally not themselves.
“Whether that’s offering counselling or easing the additional “workload” they face with funeral planning and administration, we believe that Life Insurance is more than just paying a lump sum upon death – it’s about fully supporting workers when they are bereaved, time-poor and at a loss.”
Mark Wood, chairman of Everest, said: “The death of an employee is always a crisis.
“Our support and assistance removes the sudden complex and unfamiliar administrative burden which immediately follows an untimely bereavement allowing an unhurried time to grieve.
“Our services which are integral to MetLife’s group life cover tangibly demonstrate an employer’s care for their people at the most difficult of times.”
