Every person will experience the loss of a loved one at some point during their life — yet when it comes to
With no set regulation on bereavement leave in the U.S., most employees will receive three days of paid leave for the death of an immediate family member, and just one day for a relative. But that only scratches the surface of the time and resources employees need to get through a personal loss, says Ron Gura, co-founder and CEO of Empathy, a platform dedicated to guiding people through the logistical and emotional journey of death and bereavement.
“What employers are missing is that this is a second job,” says Gura. “We’re talking about hundreds of hours of hard work for the main caregiver, and that doesn’t even take into account their state of grief.”
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Empathy estimates it takes 540 hours to just settle the affairs of the deceased. From arranging the funeral and writing the obituary, to claiming benefits and managing the deceased’s assets, death comes with a long checklist of to-do’s when a person may be at their mental worst, Gura explains.
The Empathy app is designed to offer step-by-step instructions on what needs to be done, depending on where the user lives and their situation. It also features “Care Specialists” who can answer various logistical and legal questions, as well as help users complete some of their tasks. The app’s technology even spans to assisting users in canceling subscriptions or preventing identity theft of their loved one.
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“After loss, people don’t usually get anything — they take a few days off and good employers offer their sympathy with flowers and condolences,” Gura says. “We want to shift that sympathy to empathy, technology and services. Death is something that doesn't skip any of us, and we feel like employers could play a really meaningful role.”
For Gura, providing the Empathy app is just one of many steps employers can take to support employees. The policies and work culture should also make it clear that employees can grieve — Gura suggests that managers connect with employees who experience loss and emphasize flexibility and, if possible, increase their PTO. Employers could even take it a step further and expand the definition of loss beyond immediate family to include extended family, close friends, miscarriages and pets.
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Notably, this approach can prove beneficial from a moral and business perspective. SHRM cites that companies lose $75 billion every year in the U.S. due to grief and its effects on presentism, absenteeism and productivity as a whole.
“We very much live in a grief-illiterate society. We just don't give people the space and room to grieve properly,” says Gura. “Employees are not going to be thinking about getting the job done right now. They might be crying every night, not sleeping well and dealing with family tensions months after their loss.”
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This experience has become even more prominent during COVID, and it’s more critical than ever before to practice empathy, Gura says. While access to technology and services can make a difference on the logistical end, Gura believes the care employers show during an employee’s darkest times will prove that meeting employees’ needs isn’t just about policy.
“This is a very meaningful life transition and we should think about the same way we think about a baby coming into our lives,” says Gura. “And employers can be part of making sure this taboo topic becomes something we all talk about with empathy and compassion.”
