Anyone who has ever lost a loved one knows how intensely grief can consume, debilitate and cloud the mind of even the “strongest” of young professionals.
In those times, it’s pretty impossible to care about work even you were physically able to concentrate.
Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg know this all too well. The businesswoman lost her husband Dave Goldberg suddenly in May 2015. That’s why Sandberg just announced the progressive addition of a paid bereavement leave to its benefits package for all employees that went into effect January 1.
She made the announcement at the 2017 MAKERS conference.
The company now offers 20 days of paid time off for employees mourning the death of an immediate family member, and 10 days for the death of a member of their extended family. The change doubles the amount of time previously offered to employees who are dealing with a death in the family.
Sandberg also took to Facebook (naturally) to announce the change in policy, where she shared her own experience with bereavement.
Some of the world’s leading tech companies have taken progressive steps as of late when it comes to paid leave, however, this has typically focused on maternity and paternity leave.
The (hopefully) trailblazing change from Facebook highlights the importance of taking the time to process and deal with grief. As much as there is some merit in “staying busy,” if not managed properly, grief can lead to everything from substance abuse to depression.
Not to mention, it’s (sadly) something that will affect each one of us at some point.
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