Grief at Work: Strategies for Employees and Employers

Introduction

Workplaces are often ill-equipped to respond to grief. [1]

While grief is a natural response to loss, some workplace policies treat grief as a cost of production.[2] Grieving workers might feel tension between the pressure to be productive and the need to slow down and take time to adjust. This tension can lead to stigma, hiding grief, and suffering in silence.

Based on my study [3] interviewing bereaved workers in Canada, participants shared what helped or worsened their distress. With the power to either undermine or support our life transitions, workplaces that honour grief can strengthen wellbeing, motivation, trust, and productivity.

The Experience

Grief is a response to both death and non-death losses, which may include relationships/divorce, financial loss, employment loss, injustice, global crises, or a decline in health. Unfortunately, workplaces rarely recognize non-death losses and the impact they have on the person experiencing them.

Workplaces tend to respond to grief only when it involves the death of immediate family members [6]. Definitions of “immediate family members” often exclude extended family members and significant relationships not traditionally seen as “family.” Adequate bereavement leave (time off) is missing from most workplaces in Canada.

Many people who are grieving feel pressure to return to work due to financial need, workplace culture, or job insecurity.[3] However, returning to work too soon after a significant loss can undermine and delay grief experiences, which can negatively impact workplace costs and productivity.[4]

Both employers and employees often underestimate the impact of grief and the type of labour involved [see 3 for a list of types of practical bereavement labour].

Tips and Strategies

Informed by study findings [3], the following tips and strategies aim to provide guidance for employees and employers. 

As an employee:

a) If you are grieving

●      Everyone has different needs, grief styles, and contexts.

●      You might consider:

○      Whether you want to jump back into work as a distraction;

○      Whether you need time to deal with practical labour related to the loss;

○      Whether you need support with your workload;

○      Whether you have a safe and supportive employer and co-workers; and

○      Whether you are comfortable with colleagues knowing about your loss and, if so, how—letting others know about your situation may lead to greater flexibility and accommodations at work.

●      Take breaks and pace yourself. Grief can be exhausting physically and emotionally. It comes in waves and can affect sleep.

●      Recognize that grief can impact memory and the ability to think clearly and concentrate. Some people call it “grief brain”. This will ease with time, but you may need to find practical ways to cope at first.

●      Become informed about your bereavement and labour rights in the workplace. Explore any applicable workplace policies, provincial policies, or mental health supports. (These may be available through Extended Health Benefits and/or Employee Assistance Programs)

b) If you are supporting a co-worker 

Because employees often spend more time at work than with family and friends, co-workers can be very helpful in offering support.[5]  

●      Acknowledge the loss and validate their feelings without jumping to solutions or problem-solving.

●      Offer invitations to talk and options for support. (“Would you like to talk about it or would you prefer a distraction?”)

●      If the loss was a death, consider attending the memorial or funeral if invited.

●      Offer practical help with work tasks or covering shifts.

As an employer or workplace leader:

a) Immediately following the loss

●      Acknowledge grief with humility and compassion.

○      Invite a conversation and ask questions, but try not to be intrusive.

○      Demonstrate your desire to offer support.

●      Check in with grieving employees about their preferences, and be prepared to honour their wishes. For example, do they want others to know about their loss? Recognize that this may change over time.

●      If the loss was a death, ask about attending a memorial or funeral, donations in the deceased’s name, cards, public acknowledgements, or announcements.

b)Accommodations and return-to-work

●      Flexibility is the best practice. Options may include:

○      Working from home

○      Paid/unpaid time off

○      Hiring additional workers

○      Mental health days

○      Gradual return-to-work

○      Temporary reduction in workload

●      Consider broader factors that may affect an employee [3]:

○      Estate responsibilities

○      Financial insecurity

○      Isolation

○      Caregiving responsibilities

○      Travel needs

Creating a Grief-Literate and Compassionate Work Environment 

●      Leaders who acknowledge personal and collective grief can help reduce the stigma that makes workers feel they must suffer in silence. When grief is treated with respect, it sets up employees for smoother transitions, normalizes their human needs, and facilitates their return to previous functions more effectively.

●      Create or evaluate workplace bereavement policies. Does it cover chosen family, pet loss, and other important losses (e.g., divorce)?

●      Provide grief education and training for managers and human resource professionals.

Take-Aways

By shifting from ignoring to honouring grief, workplaces can set employees up for smoother transitions by offering acknowledgement, care, and flexible accommodations. While there is room for creativity with improving workplace culture, it is critical to ask employees about their preferences and needs. Ultimately, we all need greater permission to be human for the benefit of all of our lives and workplaces.

References

[1] Charles-Edwards, D. (2009). Empowering people at work in the face of death and bereavement. Death Studies, 33(5), 420-436; Fisk, G. M. (2023). The complexity and embeddedness of grief at work: A social-ecological model. Human Resource Management Review, 33(2), 100929; and Wilson, D. M., Rodriguez-Prat, A., & Low, G. (2020). The potential impact of bereavement grief on workers, work, careers, and the workplace. Social work in health care, 59(6), 335-350.

[2] Macdonald, M. E., Kennedy, K., Moll, S., Pineda, C., Mitchell, L. M., Stephenson, P. H., & Cadell, S. (2015). Excluding parental grief: A critical discourse analysis of bereavement accommodation in Canadian labour standards. Work, 50, 511–526; Joy, K., Cadell, S., Peter, E., & Kontos, P. (2025). The living need care”: Experiences of bereaved workers in precarious employment. Death Studies, 1-11.; and Eyetsemitan, F. (1998). Stifled grief in the workplace. Death Studies, 22(5), 469-479.

[3] Joy, K., Cadell, S., Peter, E., & Kontos, P. (2025). “The living need care”: Experiences of bereaved workers in precarious employment. Death Studies, 1-11.

[4] Eyetsemitan, F. (1998). Stifled grief in the workplace. Death Studies, 22(5), 469-479;Fox, M., Cacciatore, J., & Lacasse, J. R. (2014). Child death in the United States: Productivity and the economic burden of parental grief. Death studies, 38(9), 597-602.

[5] Gibson, J., Gallagher, M., & Jenkins, M. (2010). The experiences of parents readjusting to the workplace following the death of a child by suicide. Death studies, 34(6), 500-528.

[6] Joy, K. (2023). Honouring grief experiences in life, death, and the workplace: A critical analysis of bereavement accommodation for workers in precarious employment in Canada. [Doctoral dissertation, University of Toronto]. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.

Additional Resources

Sue Ryder’s Top Tips for Employers and Line Managers

 Yvette Perrault’s When Grief Comes to Work Handbook

Workplace Strategies for Mental Health: Grief Response for Leaders

Bereaved Families Ontario-Toronto Information on Grief Styles