Dealing with the death of a colleague

Jane Robson at NALP asks: Are you and your business prepared for the unexpected?

 

Many sole traders and micro businesses dismiss contingency planning as ‘not relevant to me’, but in reality these are the very businesses that could be most severely affected if something (perhaps entirely outside their control) goes wrong. 

 

Losing staff suddenly

Loss of a member of your team can happen for any number of reasons, and most of the time you will have a month’s notice to find a replacement, organise any necessary training, and work out any tweaks needing to be made to maintain your service or production of your product.

 

But what happens if the loss is sudden and unexpected? It is not something anyone is keen to consider, but the sudden death of a colleague could have a massive impact on your business.

 

As a boss, you will be in the uncomfortable position of dealing with staff grief and managing logistics. Often when people deal with the loss of someone close, work can be a welcome distraction, but when a colleague dies, the workplace offers less opportunity to escape grief.

 

Grief can affect people in different ways—physical, emotional, psychological—and you will need to navigate a course that simultaneously looks after your staff and keeps the business running. You will find this task easier if you have already planned as much as possible for this eventuality.

 

Communication is important

Inform your staff about the death of a colleague with sensitivity.  This is particularly important if a team is small, but regardless of the size of your workforce always bear in mind that close friendships may have developed. Provide staff with contact details for sources of support.

 

If possible, speak to people in person, prioritising the deceased colleague’s immediate team. Be respectful of any limits on information requested by the person’s family.

 

Consider how you and your team will pass condolences on to the deceased person’s family. Decide if you will organise sending a condolence card and/or flowers from the team or leave it to individuals to pay their respects in their own way, in which case you will need to organise passing on contact details.

 

Inform staff about funeral arrangements and decide on your preferred arrangements on the day. It may be that you give everyone time off to attend the funeral service or to reflect and to mark the day in their own way. Or if that is not possible, perhaps the company can be represented by two or three people at the service. Whatever route you decide to take, it will be easier to implement if you have thought about it in advance.  

 

Practical aspects

Dealing with clearing the deceased’s colleague’s desk or cubical can be difficult – there may triggering reminders such as handwritten notes and personal effects (perhaps a favourite pen or mug). If your company employs a large number of people, it’s likely there will be an HR department to deal with this, but in smaller organisations it may fall to you to organise this. 

 

If the deceased colleague worked remotely you will need to consider how and when you contact the family regarding such things as business keys, files, and computer equipment. 

 

When equipment is in the home of the deceased you may find you need to prove that it belongs to your business. Keep, store and have easy access to receipts and any relevant serial numbers. While you don’t want business equipment to be included in the estate of the deceased, you will need to mindful of approaching this with sensitivity. 

 

Whilst we are on the subject of contact; do you have the contact details of your staff’s next of kin or nominated representative? Do they have your contact details? Having the details of next of kin is quite normal, but generally smaller businesses do not tend to be as vigilant about keeping these records as the larger organisations.

 

Ensuring that gathering this information during the on-boarding process, and then doing regular checks with staff to get them to confirm the details you hold remain correct, is essential. 

 

What if they use their own laptop and mobile phone? If they use their own equipment, then make sure you have an agreement about how company data is stored. Ensure it is not held on local files. Include contingencies to cover loss of wifi and server issues. This will have to be enforced; this agreement needs to pass to the deceased’s estate and therefore to their heirs.

 

It also needs to be considered from a data protection perspective. Ensuring you have remote access means that if something happens, you can delete all access, to all company files. I’d highly recommend looking into this, especially when staff are using their own equipment.

 

The impact of the sudden death of a colleague on the business itself can be mitigated by safeguards such as sharing calendars and contacts lists, but this will vary from business to business. You need to plan ahead to ensure that your customers continue to receive your services and/or products.

 

You should also consider how work will be re-allocated in the event of a member of your team passing away unexpectedly. This may vary from colleague to colleague. 

 

Finally, be aware that being in crisis management mode may spare you from the initial emotional impact of the loss of a colleague, but grief has a way catching up with you. Make sure your contingency planning includes looking after you.

 

---

 

Jane Robson is CEO of the National Association of Licensed Paralegals (NALP), a non-profit membership body and the only paralegal body that is recognised as an awarding organisation by Ofqual (the regulator of qualifications in England). Through its Centres around the country, accredited and recognised professional paralegal qualifications are offered for those looking for a career as a paralegal professional.

 

Main image courtesy of iStockPhoto.com