NGO proposes to introduce a “compassionate leave”: for whom and why the idea came up
Kyiv • UNN
In Ukraine, they are initiating the introduction of "condolence leave" for workers who lost loved ones due to the war. Research has shown the need to allow time to recover from a loss.
There is a problem with employers providing employees who have lost a loved one because of the war with time to live through a certain stage of loss awareness. Therefore, the public organization calls for, among other things, the introduction of a "compassionate leave". This was reported to UNN by Tetyana Borys, project manager of the Plan B Center of Strength project of the women's veteran movement VETERANKA.
During the presentation of the first study in Ukraine on the experience and needs of the relatives of fallen soldiers, Borys said that the main goal is to disseminate this study as widely as possible among all organizations that work with the families of the fallen and to advocate for certain changes at the state level. In particular, changes to the vacation leave for people who lost a friend or family member as a result of the Russian-Ukrainian war and need time to recover, to go through the first stages of the death of a family member, loved one or friend.
"We discussed as a team that an important topic was the introduction of Compassionate Leave. This is a concept and practice that exists abroad. That is, when a person loses his or her ability to work for a certain period of time while going through the experience of loss, he or she may not work for a while," Borys said.
During the presentation of "Research on the Experience and Needs of Relatives of Fallen Soldiers," it was noted that some respondents were forced to quit their jobs because they did not want additional attention, pity, or condemnation from their colleagues.
"That is, the loss changes a person's identity in terms of work and ability to work. Therefore, one of our desires is to advocate for the introduction of the "Compassionate Leave" both at the state level, changes to the Labor Code and the Labor Law, and at the level of employers, the private sector, and business, so that this leave becomes the norm and a manifestation of empathy and respect for human experience. So that a person has time to go through this journey, recover and return to work with renewed vigor," Borys said.
To UNN journalist, Borys commented on communication with the authorities regarding the idea of introducing a "Compassionate Leave".
"We have now conducted a study and will try to launch its second iteration. As part of this work, we sent inquiries to the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Social Policy, the Ministry of Defense, and the Ministry of Veterans Affairs. We have received a response from the Ministry of Economy, and we are waiting for the others," Borys told the journalist.
According to her, the Ministry of Economy reminded that family members of the deceased have the right to use their basic annual leave at a time convenient for them. It was also noted that an employee is entitled to unpaid leave in the event of the death of relatives by blood or marriage: husband/wife, parents/stepparents, child/stepchildren, brothers, sisters.
However, Borys noted that the concept of "Compassionate Leave" offers the preservation of salary and the possibility of additional leave for family and friends.
In addition, Borys said that the VETERANKA movement tried to communicate with businesses.
"We talked to them about how they interact with their employees who have this experience of loss. We heard basic, common things and realized that this problem exists. In the future, if we go to the second iteration of this project, we would like to work with businesses, explain to them that they should introduce this into their HR policies, so that these practices apply not only to the families of the deceased, but also to their loved ones: colleagues, close friends. Because everyone is experiencing a loss," said Borys.
She noted that there is no directive tone, no specific time for "Compassionate Leave".
"We are not talking about something that should have a prescriptive tone, we are talking about a need, in principle, about a fact and a phenomenon that exists. What the term might be is a matter of discussion. Including agreements with employees who are bereaved. At the moment, this is all done manually, sometimes in a humane way, sometimes not. It is important how much time a person needs, but at the same time it is important that such an opportunity is available," said Borys.
For reference
The study of the experience of living with the loss of a loved one as a result of the Russian-Ukrainian war was exploratory in nature. It was conducted by the Women's Veterans Movement NGO in cooperation with the Cedos think tank as part of the project "Plan B Power Center - Return to Active Social Life, Reintegration, Support and Recovery".
These are 15 semi-structured in-depth interviews with people who played different roles in the lives of the fallen soldiers: partners, parents, siblings, children (21 years and older), friends and colleagues, brothers and sisters.
Different experiences are presented: 11 women and 4 men, women with or without minor children, people from different regions of Ukraine and different types of communities (urban, rural, settlement), different periods of death of a loved one (from 2014 to 2024).
