Fare-Well Co. / For employers

Beyond the Policy

You have a bereavement policy. What happens when the leave ends?

When an employee loses a parent, a partner or a child, their manager is usually the first person they tell. Most managers want to respond well. Many haven't been prepared to.

That leaves each manager to decide what to say, what to offer and when to follow up. Employees in the same organization end up with very different experiences depending on who they report to.

This review shows what's in place beyond the written policy. It takes about four minutes. Your results appear on screen straight away, and the full report is available when you share your contact details.

Start the review

About 4 minutes. Your report shows up on screen and in your inbox.

The research

What managers are telling researchers.

73%

of managers surveyed said they need training to support a grieving employee.

23%

said they have the skills to do it.

90%

said they noticed an effect on a grieving employee's performance.

Center for Creative Leadership, 2026. United States. Read the original

These numbers come from the United States, so we're not saying they perfectly describe Canadian workplaces, but we are curious whether Canadian employers would see something much different while we conduct our own research.

The leave ends. The tasks don't.

Someone's mother dies.

They take their bereavement leave. Their coworkers say they're sorry. Their work gets covered.

Then they come back.

They may also be helping settle an estate, looking after a surviving parent, booking appointments, chasing paperwork, and living with a loss that doesn't stop because the leave did.

Their manager wants to help.

Is there a conversation about coming back? Is there any flexibility when the paperwork piles up? Does anyone check in a month later?

Or does everyone assume things are back to normal?

A good response doesn't ask managers to become grief counsellors. It asks for some preparation, some plain guidance, and a way of doing it that doesn't change with who's in charge.

45%

of estate executors surveyed said they spend at least four hours a week on estate tasks during work hours.

Homethrive, 2025. United States. Read the original

The practical side of a death doesn't fit into a few days of leave.

What you may already have

Leave, an EAP and a policy cover part of this.

Bereavement leave covers the days away. An Employee Assistance Program provides counselling and referrals, and it works best alongside a manager who knows how to point someone toward it. A written policy sets out what's permitted.

None of these tells a supervisor what to say when an employee returns on Monday.

A manager shouldn't have to guess their way through someone's worst day.

What the law covers

What the law covers, and what it doesn't.

Leave rules are the floor. They don't tell a manager what to say on the first day back.

Federal (Canada Labour Code): Up to 10 days of bereavement leave, the first 3 paid, for federally regulated employers.
Canada Labour Code, s. 210. Last checked 2026-10-20.
Prince Edward Island: 1 paid day and 2 unpaid days for the death of an immediate family member, and up to 3 unpaid days for extended family.
Government of PEI, Bereavement Leave. Last checked 2026-10-20.

General information, not legal advice. Check current rules with your province or a lawyer before you act on them.

Why it matters to a business

Supporting employees after a death is a people decision and a business decision.

Retention.: People remember how their workplace treated them in the worst month of their year. That can shape how much they trust you and whether they stay.
Performance.: Grief affects concentration, energy and what a person can take on. Managers need a straight way to talk about expectations.
Manager confidence.: Without guidance, managers avoid the conversation, decide differently from each other, or guess.
Consistency.: When there's a shared way of responding, support doesn't depend on which manager someone happens to get.

About Fare-Well Co.

Who's behind this.

Fare-Well Co. is based on Prince Edward Island, and we support employers in person and virtually across Canada, so you can work with us from anywhere. We help people and families with what happens around a death: the decisions, the paperwork, the conversations and the weeks after. This review comes from the part of our practice that works with employers.

Research consistently shows that managers want to help and don't feel prepared. We close that gap with practical training and a clear process.

Fare-Well Co. isn't a law firm, an HR department or a counselling service. Your policy and legal decisions stay with you. We teach your managers and help you build a simple process around the policy you already have.

More about Fare-Well Co.Scope of Practice

Begin

How ready is your workplace?

In about four minutes you'll look at how your organization responds when an employee loses someone.

You'll get:

A snapshot of where you stand
What's already working
The three places we'd look first
Your results on screen, right away
A full PDF report you can keep or share, when you share your contact details