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NCPC Bereavement and Employment Survey

ComRes interviewed 4,038 adults in Great Britain online from 15th to 21st November 2013. Specifically, 2,010 adults were asked question 1, 4,038 adults question 2 and 841 adults question 3. Data were weighted to be representative of all GB adults aged 18+. 

Date Published: 09 Jan 2014

Categories: Public and communities | Social | Third Sector | UK

Download NCPC Bereavement and Employment Survey 0.02 MB.

Description

Bereaved people across the UK are being failed by a lack of support including in the workplace, according to a new report published by the National Council for Palliative Care, in partnership with the National Bereavement Alliance and the Dying Matters Coalition and based on ComRes's survey of British adults.

 
The report, ‘Life after death: six steps to improve support in bereavement reveals survey data that shows a third of British adults who were bereaved in the last five years whilst in a job (32%) do not feel that their employer treated them with compassion.
 
Despite an uncertain jobs market, the ComRes research also found that more than half (56%) of people said they would consider leaving their job if their employer did not provide proper support if somebody close to them died.
 
The research found considerable public support for bereavement support in the workplace, with more than four fifths people (87%) agreeing all employers should have a compassionate employment policy, including paid bereavement leave, flexible working and a range of other support.
 
Most people also appear to think that employers themselves could gain from a more compassionate approach to bereavement, with 82% of people saying that providing employees with paid bereavement leave is likely to be beneficial to the employer in the long term.  81% said there should be a legal right to receive paid bereavement leave: at present, there is no statutory paid bereavement leave although employees have the right to “reasonable” unpaid time off to deal with practicalities such as arranging a funeral.

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