Death and bereavement in the workplace- Part 2

Last week we looked at tips for the company and coworkers. Let’s continue this week with ideas for the bereaved.

If you are the one who suffered a death in the family, there are a few things you must keep in mind in order to go through the mourning process and resume your regular activities. It is a difficult period, so rely on a trusted friend or colleague to help you.{{more}}

1. Make sure you understand your company’s bereavement policy. In particular, know how much time you are allowed to take and if you can use personal leave or vacation time if more time is needed.

2. Talk to your supervisor about pressing deadlines and see how they can be handled if possible.

3. Do take some time off from the job if someone in your family has died. You need time to deal with the pain of the loss and also to take care of events and logistics like the funeral, wills, young children, financial matters, and surprises. Know that you cannot accomplish all this in a matter of days, so give yourself some time.

4. Understand that your coworkers may not know how to react, so be forgiving-especially if they admit to you later that they stayed away because they did not know what to say or do.

5. Take advantage of this time, if you need to, to draw close to people you would not have thought cared so much about you.

6. If you are having a difficult time dealing with the loss, seek counseling-do not use your coworkers as counselors. Professionals are specially trained to know how to handle such topics.

7. If a family member dies and you were not particularly close to them and you really don’t feel a sense of loss, do not take advantage of the situation to get time off from work or to thrive on the extra attention.

8. Stay busy but do not avoid the process of grieving by becoming a workaholic.

9. Do not expect work to stop because you are not available, and do not get offended if someone fills in for your absence.

Karen Hinds President/CEO –
Workplace Success Group,
Toll Free: 1-877-902-2775;
Tel: 1-203-757-4103
Karen@WorkplaceSuccess.com
www.WorkplaceSuccess.com
Creator of The Workplace Success Program (TM)