Don’t Duck the Conversation -Workplace Edition
A guide for navigating death and bereavement in the workplace
While every individual should prepare for their own death, it is also important for organizations to be prepared to navigate end-of-life events that might impact the workplace such as:
- When an employee dies
- When an employee experiences the death of a loved one
Whether you’re in human resources, a manager, or the owner of a business or organization you’re responsible for looking after the well-being of your employees. The Don’t Duck the Conversation: WorkPlace Toolkit is available as a resource for you when navigating grief and bereavement in the workplace.
While there’s no one right way to navigate bereavement in the workplace, the toolkit is meant to be used as a flexible guide when providing support to your employees and to normalize conversations around death so you’re not left on your own as a leader in your organization.
The Don’t Duck the Conversation: Workplace Toolkit Includes:
- Bereavement basics including terminology, stats, and facts on grief
- Checklists to help become a compassionate workplace
- Checklists, support suggestions, and phrases to support a bereaved colleague
- Checklists and email templates to follow when a workplace experiences the loss of an employee
- Understanding the signs and symptoms of grief and what to look out for
- Recommendations for self-care during times of grief when returning to work
- Mental health resources
How to Purchase the Workplace Toolkit
The Don't Duck the Conversation: Workplace Toolkit is available in either a physical hardcopy or a printable digital version.
Physical hardcopy is available for free local pickup at Hospice Northwest, or $5 shipping within Canada.
To purchase more than one copy of the toolkit, please contact our office directly.
Why was this toolkit created?
Hospice Northwest published a planning guide called Don’t Duck the Conversation in 2016 to help individuals and their families prepare for the end of their lives. The guide encourages those sixteen and above to begin planning for death and it promotes the normalization of these important conversations.
While every individual should prepare for their own death, it is also important for organizations to be prepared to navigate end-of-life events that might impact the workplace such as the death of an employee or a bereaved employee to provide support and normalize these conversations. This inspired Don’t Duck the Conversation – Workplace Toolkit Edition that aims to prepare workplaces to navigate bereavement.
What is Compassionate Communities?
This toolkit was inspired by Compassionate Communities, which is an international movement introduced by professor Allan Kellehear in the 1990's. The goal is to de-medicalize death and dying and make end-of-life events a community social responsibility including in death, dying, grief, and caregiving.