What do you do when the unspeakable happens?
Business
owners are good at planning for expected and unexpected business contingencies. Some even go so far as planning for a disaster such as an earthquake and terrorist attack. (More on earthquakes and other disasters in a later post.)
Few businesses, especially small businesses, have a plan to handle the death of an employee or the immediate family member of an employee. Death is something no one wants to discuss, yet it dramatically impacts your workforce. As an employer you are faced with the dilemma of protecting your employee's privacy while allowing coworkers to express their condolences. I know I have been there. Several years ago one of our employees lost a spouse. The following year, it happened again, this time to another key employee in the same month! Our staff was just beginning to recover from the first loss and here it happened again. In the third year, as the month of the anniversary of these losses approached, there was an eiree sense of impending doom. My employees were shell shocked. We made it through that month without anyone openly discussing the d-word. It has been sometime since these events, but you can still sense a tension when "that month" comes around.
In retrospect, we were all in denial. It was hard to see people that I valued, and considered extended family, go through such pain. The irony was that here I was an employment attorney and I should have had the answers. If this was presented by a client, I probably would have. In this instance, I didn't have answers. It hit too close to home. This was unexpected. I was a lot younger. The spouses that died, died unexpectedly and were not of an age where one would consider this to be likely to happen. Fortunately, I had a colleague who offered their assistance. I had to answer questions, such as:
1. How do I tell my employees?
2. What do I tell my employees?
3. What do you tell clients, vendors, and business contacts?
4. What is the best, and least intrusive way to stay in contact the employee and still let them know you are concerned about their well being?
5. What is an appropriate time to allow the employee to have off?
6. What should we, as a team, do for our coworker?
7. How do you handle the funeral?
8. What do you do while the employee is out?
9. How do you handle the grieving process?
10. How do you address decreased productivity that is to be expected for the next year because a team member had their world shaken and other members of the team are impacted by their genuine concern for the employee?
Here is what I learned. We can talk all day long about your legal responsibilities, but when events of this nature occur you will find yourself having to go that extra mile. I like to think that we made it through those two horrible years, because we had a close team . I know that what made it possible is that I listened to the input of my employees and was guided by doing the right thing. I hope and pray this never happens again. If it does, I have a plan in place:
1. I will speak to the affected employee and ask them what they want me to tell their coworkers, clients and business contacts.
2. For key employees, I have plans in place to assure that another employee understands how to fill in.
3. I will try to establish contact with a close family member who will agree to act as an intermediary.
4.Time off for the funeral? Yes, with pay. Coworkers need to grieve.
5. I will recognize that my employees will be impacted by this for a minimum of a year and we will all need to engage in team building excercises. If necessary, I will consider bringing in a grief counselor. I have names in my Outlook contacts.
6. I have names and points of contact for temp agencies that I can count on.
7. I will avoid using terms like "passed away", "not with us" and listen to what one of my employees told me, "He's dead and it's okay to use that word. I live with it every day."
In case you are wondering, I have wanted to write this post for a long time. After I wrote this post, I had the two employees that lost their spouses, read this and give their approval. After all, it is the right thing to do.
Nothing in this Blog should be considered legal advice or to form the basis of an attorney client relationship. Every legal matter can turn on specific facts. Nothing can substitute for the advice of a seasoned legal professional.
owners are good at planning for expected and unexpected business contingencies. Some even go so far as planning for a disaster such as an earthquake and terrorist attack. (More on earthquakes and other disasters in a later post.)Few businesses, especially small businesses, have a plan to handle the death of an employee or the immediate family member of an employee. Death is something no one wants to discuss, yet it dramatically impacts your workforce. As an employer you are faced with the dilemma of protecting your employee's privacy while allowing coworkers to express their condolences. I know I have been there. Several years ago one of our employees lost a spouse. The following year, it happened again, this time to another key employee in the same month! Our staff was just beginning to recover from the first loss and here it happened again. In the third year, as the month of the anniversary of these losses approached, there was an eiree sense of impending doom. My employees were shell shocked. We made it through that month without anyone openly discussing the d-word. It has been sometime since these events, but you can still sense a tension when "that month" comes around.
In retrospect, we were all in denial. It was hard to see people that I valued, and considered extended family, go through such pain. The irony was that here I was an employment attorney and I should have had the answers. If this was presented by a client, I probably would have. In this instance, I didn't have answers. It hit too close to home. This was unexpected. I was a lot younger. The spouses that died, died unexpectedly and were not of an age where one would consider this to be likely to happen. Fortunately, I had a colleague who offered their assistance. I had to answer questions, such as:
1. How do I tell my employees?
2. What do I tell my employees?
3. What do you tell clients, vendors, and business contacts?
4. What is the best, and least intrusive way to stay in contact the employee and still let them know you are concerned about their well being?
5. What is an appropriate time to allow the employee to have off?
6. What should we, as a team, do for our coworker?
7. How do you handle the funeral?
8. What do you do while the employee is out?
9. How do you handle the grieving process?
10. How do you address decreased productivity that is to be expected for the next year because a team member had their world shaken and other members of the team are impacted by their genuine concern for the employee?
Here is what I learned. We can talk all day long about your legal responsibilities, but when events of this nature occur you will find yourself having to go that extra mile. I like to think that we made it through those two horrible years, because we had a close team . I know that what made it possible is that I listened to the input of my employees and was guided by doing the right thing. I hope and pray this never happens again. If it does, I have a plan in place:
1. I will speak to the affected employee and ask them what they want me to tell their coworkers, clients and business contacts.
2. For key employees, I have plans in place to assure that another employee understands how to fill in.
3. I will try to establish contact with a close family member who will agree to act as an intermediary.
4.Time off for the funeral? Yes, with pay. Coworkers need to grieve.
5. I will recognize that my employees will be impacted by this for a minimum of a year and we will all need to engage in team building excercises. If necessary, I will consider bringing in a grief counselor. I have names in my Outlook contacts.
6. I have names and points of contact for temp agencies that I can count on.
7. I will avoid using terms like "passed away", "not with us" and listen to what one of my employees told me, "He's dead and it's okay to use that word. I live with it every day."
In case you are wondering, I have wanted to write this post for a long time. After I wrote this post, I had the two employees that lost their spouses, read this and give their approval. After all, it is the right thing to do.
Nothing in this Blog should be considered legal advice or to form the basis of an attorney client relationship. Every legal matter can turn on specific facts. Nothing can substitute for the advice of a seasoned legal professional.
0 comments:
Post a Comment