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The last person she expected to see was her boss at her front porch not to offer his condolences, but to ask when she would be coming back to work.
By Megan Quinn — Written on Jun 01, 2023
Four days after a family tragedy rocked her world, a woman was surprised to find her boss at her front doorstep. Instead of offering his condolences, he only had one question in mind for the woman: when did she plan on returning back to work?
Now, she is seeking the advice of others, asking what her next move should be and if she should even return to her job at all.
Sharing her story to the U.K. parenting forum, Mumsnet, the woman asked other users when or if the time was right for her to go back to work. She explains that her father, unfortunately, passed away four days prior and therefore has not been at work. As her family was working through funeral details, her boss called her, asking her when she would be back.
After she missed her boss's calls, he showed up at her home.
When he was not able to reach his grieving employee over the phone, he showed up at her house asking her the same question. “I am not even remotely ready,” the woman admits. “[We have] not even had the funeral yet which is next Wednesday.”
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The woman asked others if she was being unreasonable to expect that she should be granted this time off using sick days. She has been working diligently for the company for years and believes that she is entitled to this difficult time to take a breather from her job. “I have barely taken a day sick in a decade so feel like it’s time to just take a bit of a time out,” she wrote.
Others agreed with the woman and encouraged her to take as much time off as she needed.
“Absolutely get signed off for two weeks and see how you feel from there,” one user recommended.
“Only you can know how you feel but if it was me I wouldn’t be returning to work that soon and if that means you need to be signed off sick then so be it.”
Many users criticized her boss and called him out for crossing a major boundary.
“Your boss has obviously had an empathy bypass as it is totally unreasonable to be knocking on your door this soon after a major bereavement,” one user pointed out. “That was a terrible response for your manager. I'm sorry that you've lost your dad, take the time you need, because it sounds like when you do go back, there won't be much support.”
Many companies offer bereavement leave as part of their employee benefits. Bereavement leave is a type of leave granted to employees who have experienced the death of a family member or loved one. It allows employees to take time off to grieve, make funeral arrangements, and attend memorial services.
Bereavement leave varies across companies and provides a set number of days off, typically ranging from a few days to a week, while others may have more flexible policies that allow employees to take additional time off if needed.
Although most bosses would agree that showing up to your grieving employee’s home just days after the death of a loved one is entirely inappropriate and is grounds for quitting.
Megan Quinn is a writer at YourTango who covers entertainment and news, self, love, and relationships.