"Our services, which are integral to MetLife’s Group Life, tangibly demonstrate an employer’s care for their people at the most difficult of times."
- Mark Wood, Chairman of Everest
Of those surveyed (2,003), 21% thought having more time off work following a bereavement would have helped them. Over half (55%) of employees revealed that it took them up to eight weeks to get back to their usual selves. This figure is up from 15% in 2023.
For more than one in ten (13%), it took more than eight weeks to get back to normal at work.
17% said access to counselling would be helpful, followed by practical support (15%) such as help to contact accountants or closing bank accounts of the deceased. Notably, 12% went as far as to say their employer helping with funeral planning would be of support.
“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 that 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,” explained Charlotte O’Brien, Head of Employee Benefits at MetLife UK.
She said: “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, added: “The death of an employee is always a crisis. Our support and assistance remove 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, tangibly demonstrate an employer’s care for their people at the most difficult of times.”
