'Mum on a mission’ boosts compassion at work after devastating loss
A mum who was told to ‘just crack on’ by bosses the day her former partner died is spearheading moves to improve bereavement support at work.
Emma Tomes, 42, of Bournemouth, Dorset, has dubbed herself ‘a mum on a mission’ to drive the message home that empathy and compassion should be uppermost in employers’ minds when employees are hit by the loss of loved ones.
Emma’s former partner and dad to her son, then aged 12, died by suicide, aged 31, in 2010. She was called to Poole Hospital where he was taken before he died.
When Emma contacted her then manager, they said she should take that day as holiday, to ‘just crack on’ by coming back to work the next day.
Emma said: “It’s all a blur but I do remember being badly affected by my manager’s words. In the midst of such enormous trauma, I was left reeling at how anyone could be so insensitive. They could have shown so...
