1. November 8, 2017 Patty Revis, Sphr

2. I am from the south

3. I am a story teller

4. Short story is an oxymoron

7. Our story

8. How to manage bereavement time when there is no policy.

9. If at all possible, never make anyone choose between a funeral and working
Go to the funeral yourself and any Sr. Management or Leadership should as well
Suck it up and pay for bereavement (within reason of course) for nonexempt employees
You can put it in policy and make it “official” rather than having to decide on the fly – but that also takes away the ability to make some difficult decisions. But having an idea is helpful.

10. What responsibility does the employer have to the employee’s family?

11. This looks very different based on the employee. i. e
This looks very different based on the employee. i.e. line level vs HCE vs a board of director
Jocelyn’s family’s situation – Cultural, language barrier, status, contact name, family representatives, point of contact
How is your paperwork set up? Where do you go for claim forms and for releases

12. How to handle beneficiary information when there is not a stated beneficiary.

13. Review your policies.
Send out regular updated beneficiary forms
It’s 401, insurance – life and AD&D, bank accounts, FSA, final paychecks, etc.
What I did wrong…
Educate, educate, educate

14. Best practice on cleaning out the personal effects of the deceased.

15. Don’t pick their best buddy to do it – it’s too painful
Don’t delay!
Don’t make a public spectacle about it
DO NOT allow the vultures to begin to circle!!
If returning items to the family – do it on THEIR terms. Whenever, wherever, however.
Especially return photos or anything that is super personal – you know the difference.

16. Ways to successfully transfer responsibility so the work still gets done.

17. This is where cross training is a really good idea
Look at any and all positions who are silo’ed
“Scott’s been here forever, he’s never gonna quit…”
What happens when 90% of your assets leave the office at 5pm?
Work with your IT Dept on transferring s to a central person to delegate them for return and taking care of business
Shut down all access and treat as a regular termination

18. Respectful ways to work with supervisors and
mid-line managers and those who worked closest with the deceased and maintain morale.

19. Cut them some slack
In our case it was family
Watch for signs of depression with employees – AND yourself!
EAP or counselors can help
Facilitate their needs
Follow their lead – you’ll know what to do in the moment but having a bit of an idea is helpful

20. Is the response the same if the employee is married, single, has a “significant other”, living with parents, is a parent, higher status at the company or less well-known line level employee?

21. Know who you are talking to and their relationship to the deceased
Be a resource to them but watch yourself
Does a spouse trump the parent? YES! When does the adult child trump a spouse? Does a significant other or common law trump anyone?
Don’t get yourself into a family drama you don’t need or want to be in the middle of trying to figure out how to get out of – it’s a fine line

22. The differences of death on the job or at work, in the office, outside of the job and on the way to the job along with current employee versus a former employee.

23. There are differences – Things to think about
At work – you may need to seal the work area so how does this affect operations?
In the field or other location – you may need to go
On the way to work – do you let people go home? Tell them to get back to work? Let them decide? In our case, we shut down the branch.

24. Best practices on dealing with vendors, customers, and other third parties who no longer work with the employee. When is it genuine concern and sympathy or straight up nosey?

25. Press Releases, Notices & Websites – Oh MY!
Funnel ALL information through one point of contact – and be firm on that!
Proactive calling of all vendor/partner/client relationships
If it’s a crime or on the news MAKE SURE your staff knows to defer all questions to the central point of contact
Train your staff on how to answer – especially if you are in a retail/member/customer centric environment
Explain to your staff that sometimes people are just plain crazy-pants

26. The best way to remember the employee.

27. Allow the team who is closest to make the decisions and then SUPPORT them – a LOT of people can get lots of opinions real fast. Protect the right people.
Memorials are nice but they are generally forever.
It doesn’t have to be grandiose
Not everyone is going to be happy with what you decide but this is not a time for egos so stand firm.

30. Thanks y’all
Hug your people.

31. Director of Human Resources
Patty Revis, SPHR
Director of Human Resources
Unity One Credit Union
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