For Employers · Free tool

Bereavement Readiness Audit

Twelve questions about the day a death reaches your team. Five minutes. You leave with a score, the gaps, and a report you can hand to your boss. No signup, and your answers never leave this browser.

Company name (optional, for the report)

1 of 12 · Policy

Does your bereavement policy say anything beyond days off?

Yes. It covers leave, flexibility, pay, and who decides.It covers days and pay. The rest is case by case.It’s a line in the handbook about days.

2 of 12 · Ownership

An employee’s parent died this morning. Who owns your company’s response?

One named owner with a written process.HR picks it up, but it depends who’s available.Whoever hears first improvises.

3 of 12 · Manager preparation

What do managers get before they face a grieving report?

Training, plus a script they can actually use.A policy link, if they ask.Nothing. They wing it.

4 of 12 · The first 48 hours

Is there a written sequence for the first 48 hours after a death: payroll, benefits, communication, IT, family contact?

Yes, written and known.Pieces exist, in different heads and folders.No.

5 of 12 · Leave consistency

Would two employees with the same loss get the same leave and flexibility?

Yes. The policy decides, not the manager’s mood.Mostly, but exceptions get negotiated one by one.Honestly, it depends on their manager.

6 of 12 · Communication and privacy

When a death happens, who decides what the team is told?

A written rule: the family’s wishes first, one approved message.HR drafts something each time.The rumor mill usually gets there first.

7 of 12 · Practical support

What practical help does a bereaved employee get beyond time off and counseling?

Structured help with the paperwork, deadlines, and benefits that follow a death.We point them at the EAP and hope.None. They handle it alone.

8 of 12 · Return to work

What happens when they come back?

A workload plan and scheduled check-ins at 30, 60, and 90 days.The manager checks in when they remember.Business as usual from day one.

9 of 12 · EAP boundary

Do you know what your EAP does and doesn’t cover after a death?

Yes, in writing, and we cover the gaps.Roughly. We’ve never mapped it.We assume the EAP handles it.

10 of 12 · Planning benefit

Can employees put their own affairs in order through a company benefit: a will, an advance directive, beneficiaries?

Yes, and we promote it.A legal-plan add-on exists. Nobody uses it.No.

11 of 12 · Measurement

Could you tell your CFO whether bereavement support worked last year?

Yes: cases, time spent, and outcomes get tracked.We could count the cases. Nothing else.No. Nothing is measured.

12 of 12 · Multi-state readiness

If employees are in more than one state, does your guidance change by state?

Yes. State-specific steps are part of the process, or we’re in one state and the process fits it.We know it varies but handle it ad hoc.One generic process everywhere.

0 of 12 answered. Your score appears when all twelve are done.

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