In this issue
Features
Talking about death at work (free article)
It helps emotionally, practically and makes good business sense. Jane Duncan Rogers explains why we need to do more of it.
A sudden death (free article)
Stephen Regel explains how an employer can best support its employees in the aftermath of a traumatic bereavement.
Work, life and the menopause
Columba Sodhi-Urey calls for better conversations in the workplace.
Regulars
Notes from the chair
Nicola Neath: Staying safe
Columns
Ageing matters
Jeremy Bacon: Getting on
Talking purple (free article)
David Caldwell: Becoming a champion
Workplace matters (free article)
Sandi Mann: Pay parity: what are you worth?
Q&A: My client has revealed a sexual harassment complaint.
BACP Workplace Executive Committee addresses your queries
EAP matters
Julie Hughes: A guide to report writing
Cyberwork
Sarah Worley-James: Avatars
A pdf of this issue is available from the BACP Workplace archive
Editorial: Preparing for our exit
Death is often a turning point for those of us left behind, forcing us to take a different journey, not of our choosing.
Clients will talk about being at a crossroads, needing a map, and of new terrain as they navigate and make sense of the new absence in their world. Death cannot fail to touch us at work. Losing people who we love, or colleagues we worked alongside, can all affect our capacity to function.
A new law coming into effect in 2020 will give bereaved parents the right to two weeks’ statutory bereavement leave, and there’s a petition to campaign for the similar right after the loss of a spouse. There’s little doubt in my mind that as a society we need to have better conversations about death; and the workplace, as a place where we spend so much of our lives, could be a good place to have these.
Once aware of the end of life, some choose to plan, express choices and wishes. My Mum, who died in January, did this. She gifted me with the clarity to depart from the norms of what we do before and after death. Perhaps at 80, we’re readier to accept the end is in sight, and prepare for our exit. But arguably, for those of us in midlife, with mortgages, dependent family, step families and work, we might leave a whole lot more mess.
Being more aware of death in life and of our own death, can help us to live more fully. As BACP begins its partnership with Cruse for better care and support, and your retitled and redesigned quarterly journal, BACP Workplace, lands on your mat – it’s fitting that there’s a focus on exits, endings and transitions – the stuff of life.
Nicola Banning
Editor, BACP Workplace
workplaceeditor@bacp.co.uk