Trigger warning: This article includes reference to suicide.
Employee Benefits Live 2025: In a keynote address titled When grief comes to work: Supporting employees through loss, Ben West explored the importance of an open culture and offering flexibility within employee bereavement support.
Addressing delegates on the second day of Employee Benefits Live 2025, West spoke about how the loss of his brother to suicide in 2018 has led him on a journey to make changes regarding mental health training for teachers through an online petition. This has now become mandatory as of September.
Within the keynote, he also encouraged HR, reward and benefits leaders to reconsider their grief support in terms of how they approach it and what they can offer to be fully flexible and empathetic.
“Conversations about mental health have got better recently, but changes haven’t quite caught up,” he said. ”We need to translate the positive momentum into real policy and process changes.”
West highlighted the need for grief and bereavement policies within the workplace and the exploration of how these can be improved. Asking employees what they need, how they can make it happen, and offering choice through reasonable adjustments can be seen as an attraction and retention tool and ensures employees feel valued and supported.
“The process of offering support should start long before the grief period takes place; it’s important to be prepared in that area. They should be based on real-life experiences from employees who feel comfortable sharing, and managers and employees should be trained and equipped with relevant tools,” he said.
West added that the fact the grieving period is not linear, and some employees may require flexibility within bereavement leave is critical, as well as acknowledging key dates and asking open questions with the intention of listening.
“Employers should be proactive with their support and show empathy when understanding the different types of grief. It’s important to collect and collate information that covers a broad range of support, as there’s a huge disparity between what people want and what is actually being offered. This can put employers in a good position to attract top talent that will stay within an organisation for a long time,” he said.
