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Staff Death Support Policy

1. Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to outline the procedures and support mechanisms in place when a staff member passes away, ensuring a compassionate, efficient, and compliant response that considers the well-being of colleagues, people we support, and the staff member’s family. This policy aligns with Care Inspectorate Scotland regulations, employment law, and best practices in bereavement support.

2. Scope

This policy applies to:

• All employees of {{org_field_name}}.
• Management and HR teams responsible for handling staff deaths.
• Colleagues and teams affected by the loss.
• People we support and their families, where appropriate.
• External agencies and regulatory bodies where notification is required.

3. Legal and Regulatory Requirements

This policy will be implemented in accordance with all legal and regulatory requirements relevant to the circumstances of the death. These include, where applicable:

• the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974;
• the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR);
• the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010 and regulations made under it in relation to registered care services;
• the Social Care and Social Work Improvement Scotland (Requirements for Care Services) Regulations 2011;
• the Health and Care (Staffing) (Scotland) Act 2019;
• the Employment Rights Act 1996 and applicable payroll and employment requirements following the death of an employee;
• the Data Protection Act 2018 and UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), insofar as information relates to identifiable living individuals;
• the Health and Social Care Standards: My support, my life;
• the current Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) Codes of Practice for Social Service Workers and Employers; and
• current Care Inspectorate requirements concerning records, notifications and the safe operation of registered care services.

Where the circumstances of a staff member’s death constitute a work-related fatality or otherwise meet the reporting criteria under RIDDOR, the organisation will make the required report to the relevant enforcing authority within the applicable statutory timescale.

4. Immediate Actions Following a Staff Death

4.1 Notification and Internal Communication

• Immediate Notification to Management: Any staff member who becomes aware of a colleague’s passing must inform the Registered Manager or HR Department.
• Verification of Information: The HR team will confirm the details with the relevant authorities (e.g., family, hospital, police).
• Senior Management Briefing: The Registered Manager and HR will coordinate a response plan.

4.2 Notifying the Staff Member’s Family

• If the death occurs at work, emergency services will be contacted, and the next of kin will be informed by a senior manager in a compassionate and professional manner.
• If the death occurs outside of work, the organisation will confirm details with the family before notifying colleagues.
• Support for the Family: HR will offer assistance, including guidance on workplace benefits, final pay, pension arrangements, and bereavement support.

4.3 Notifying External Organisations

External organisations will be notified only where a legal, regulatory, contractual or other formal reporting requirement applies.

• Health and Safety Executive or other relevant enforcing authority: Where a staff member dies as a result of a work-related accident, occupational exposure or other circumstances that are reportable under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR), the responsible person will ensure that the required notification and report are made in accordance with RIDDOR.
• Care Inspectorate: The Registered Manager or other authorised person will assess the circumstances against the Care Inspectorate’s current notification requirements. A notification will be submitted where the event falls within a category that the Care Inspectorate requires the registered service to notify. The death of an employee must not be treated as automatically notifiable solely because the employee worked for the service.
• Scottish Social Services Council: The death of an SSSC-registered worker does not, by itself, create an employer fitness to practise referral requirement. Any referral to the SSSC will be made only where there is a separate matter that meets the SSSC’s current employer referral criteria or where information is specifically requested by the SSSC.
• Pension, insurance and employee benefit providers: Relevant providers will be notified where required so that any benefits or entitlements arising from the employee’s death can be administered in accordance with the applicable scheme rules.

A record will be maintained of any external notification made, including the organisation notified, the date of notification, the reason for notification, the person making it and any reference number or follow-up action required.

5. Supporting Colleagues and Teams

5.1 Emotional and Well-Being Support

• Counselling Services: Employees affected by the loss will be offered bereavement counselling.
• Manager Support Meetings: Line managers should check in with affected staff individually.
• Peer Support: A designated well-being officer will provide additional support.
• Flexible Work Arrangements: Staff may request time off or adjustments to their workload.

5.2 Memorial and Recognition

• A moment of silence or remembrance gathering may be arranged if appropriate.
• A condolence book or digital message board will be set up for staff to share thoughts.
• A charity donation or memorial tribute may be arranged with family consent.

6. Operational Considerations

6.1 Covering Shifts and Service Continuity

Following the death of a member of staff, the Registered Manager must promptly review staffing arrangements and any resulting risks to people receiving care and support.

The service must continue to ensure that suitably qualified, competent and appropriately skilled staff are working in such numbers as are appropriate to meet the health, wellbeing and safety needs of people receiving the service and to provide safe and high-quality care.

Staffing decisions must take account of:

• the number and assessed needs of people receiving care and support;
• the skills, competence and experience required for planned visits and tasks;
• the impact of the staff member’s death upon existing staffing capacity;
• the wellbeing and fitness to work of colleagues affected by the death;
• continuity of care and support;
• missed, delayed or altered visits and any associated risks; and
• any need for escalation to senior management, commissioners or other relevant parties where safe staffing or continuity of care may be affected.

The service must not allocate work to staff who are not appropriately trained, competent or fit to undertake it solely in order to fill a staffing gap.

Where changes to planned care are unavoidable, people receiving the service and, where appropriate, their representatives will be informed as soon as reasonably practicable. Any significant risk to the safe delivery of the registered service must be escalated and managed in accordance with the organisation’s contingency, incident management and regulatory notification procedures.

6.2 Data, Payroll and Employment Records

Following confirmation of a staff member’s death, HR and payroll will ensure that the employee’s employment and payroll records are updated accurately and that all outstanding payments due are dealt with in accordance with applicable HM Revenue and Customs requirements.

This will include, where applicable:

• recording the employee’s date of death as the date of leaving for payroll purposes;
• calculating outstanding salary and any other payments properly due;
• calculating payment for accrued but untaken statutory or contractual annual leave where payable;
• making the appropriate payroll submission to HM Revenue and Customs;
• ensuring that a P45 is not issued where current HM Revenue and Customs rules provide that one should not be issued following an employee’s death; and
• arranging for sums due after death to be paid to the person legally entitled to receive them, normally the deceased employee’s personal representative or executor, rather than automatically making payment to a family member.

Any pension, death-in-service or insurance benefit will be dealt with in accordance with the rules of the applicable pension, insurance or employee benefit scheme. The organisation must not assume that such benefits are payable directly to the employee’s next of kin.

Access to organisational systems, email accounts, equipment and confidential information will be withdrawn or secured as soon as reasonably practicable, taking account of any legitimate organisational need to preserve information or records.

The UK GDPR applies to information about identifiable living individuals and does not apply to information solely about a deceased person. However, information concerning the death may also identify or contain personal data about relatives, colleagues, people receiving care or other living individuals. Such personal data must continue to be processed lawfully, fairly, securely and only where necessary in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018, UK GDPR and the organisation’s information governance policies.

Personal belongings belonging to the deceased employee will be identified, secured and returned to the person legally entitled to receive them. A record of any transfer of valuable or sensitive items will be maintained.

7. Reporting, Investigation and Compliance

Where a staff member dies during work or in circumstances that may be connected with their work, the Registered Manager must ensure that immediate safety concerns are addressed and that the circumstances are assessed promptly to establish what statutory, regulatory and internal reporting requirements apply.

7.1 Work-Related Deaths and RIDDOR

Where a person dies as a result of a work-related accident, the responsible person must make the required report under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR).

This includes circumstances in which an employee suffers a reportable work-related injury and subsequently dies as a result of that injury within the period covered by RIDDOR.

The organisation must ensure that:

• any immediate danger is controlled so far as reasonably practicable;
• emergency services are contacted where required;
• the relevant enforcing authority is notified where RIDDOR applies;
• relevant evidence, records and information are preserved;
• the incident is recorded through the organisation’s incident reporting system; and
• any investigation or request for information from the enforcing authority, police, Care Inspectorate or another relevant authority is fully co-operated with.

A death must not be reported under RIDDOR merely because it occurred while the person was at work. The statutory test of whether the death resulted from a work-related accident, occupational exposure or another reportable circumstance must be applied.

7.2 Care Inspectorate Notification

The Registered Manager must consider the circumstances of the death against the Care Inspectorate’s notification requirements applicable to the registered service.

A Care Inspectorate notification must be submitted where the circumstances fall within a category that the Care Inspectorate requires to be notified. The fact that a member of staff has died does not, by itself, mean that a Care Inspectorate notification is required.

Where the death or surrounding circumstances cause or contribute to a separate notifiable event affecting people receiving care, the operation of the service or another matter covered by Care Inspectorate notification requirements, that event must be notified in accordance with the applicable requirement.

The service will retain a record of the decision whether or not to notify, including the circumstances considered and, where a notification is made, the date, reference number and any subsequent communication with the Care Inspectorate.

7.3 Internal Review and Learning

Where the death occurred in connection with work, may have resulted from work activity, or identifies a potential risk to staff or people receiving care, the organisation will undertake an appropriate internal review without obstructing or prejudicing any investigation being undertaken by the police, Health and Safety Executive, Care Inspectorate or another statutory authority.

Any immediate safety action identified through the review must be implemented without unnecessary delay.

Where the review identifies changes required to risk assessments, working arrangements, staffing arrangements, training, policies or procedures, these must be recorded, allocated to a responsible person and monitored to completion.

7.4 Confidentiality and Information Handling

Information relating to the death will be shared only with people who have a legitimate reason to receive it.

Personal data relating to identifiable living individuals, including relatives, colleagues and people receiving care, must be handled in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018, UK GDPR and the organisation’s information governance requirements.

Information solely concerning a deceased individual is not personal data for UK GDPR purposes; however, confidentiality, employment records, contractual requirements, professional duties and the rights and privacy of living individuals must continue to be respected.

8. Training and Awareness

• All employees will be provided with guidance on how to cope with workplace bereavement.
• Supervisors will be trained in supporting affected teams professionally and sensitively.

9. Related Policies

• Bereavement Leave Policy
• Health and Well-being Policy
• Incident Reporting and Management Policy
• Workplace Health and Safety Policy

10. Policy Review

This policy will be reviewed at least annually and sooner where:

• there is a relevant change in legislation, statutory guidance, Care Inspectorate requirements or SSSC requirements;
• a staff death identifies a material deficiency in the policy;
• an investigation, regulatory finding or significant incident identifies that changes are required; or
• organisational arrangements relevant to the policy materially change.

The Registered Manager is responsible for ensuring that the current approved version of this policy is available to staff and that any mandatory changes arising from legislation or regulatory requirements are implemented without waiting for the scheduled annual review.

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Responsible Person: {{org_field_registered_manager_first_name}} {{org_field_registered_manager_last_name}}
Reviewed on: {{last_update_date}}
Next Review Date: {{next_review_date}}
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