A woman opens up about her company's bereavement package and what it says about work culture in corporate America.
A TikToker with the username @later_kates took to the platform to share what her employer's response was when she informed them that her brother had died.
In her video, she is seen looking at her computer monitor in tears as the text on the screen reads: “Work: I'm sorry your brother died. Take all the time you need, we have a generous 3-day bereavement package.”
Shortly after posting it, TikTok received over four million views, with many people leaving comments about how bad they felt for her and what her own company's policy is.
“American companies are unforgiving. “It’s inhumane,” one comment read.
Another commenter agreed, writing: “'Take all the time you need' even if you have a time requirement. “I’m so sorry, sending you love.”
“I had a family pass and was penalized for performance issues because I couldn't stop crying at my desk. It's incredible how they treat us. “I’m so sorry,” read a third comment.
Some dove into their own experience with bereavement leave, and most of them were as brief as Kate's.
“A week (3 paid days) to get over the death of my mother when I was only 24 years old. “Horrible,” said one story in the comments.
Another story in the comments read: “After returning from my 3-day bereavement, my work sent me to meet a new client. In the hospital where my mother died. “I immediately put in my two weeks.”
“5 days of paid grief when I lost my son. I used all my PTO, but my coworkers donated their PTO to me, so I had enough for 1 month. I also used FMLA,” a third story said.
This isn't the first time someone has taken to the social media platform to talk about a labor fight. Another TikToker recently shared a story of how an employee reacted to their annual leave being canceled at the last minute.
Michael Sanz is known for his videos about stories his viewers send him about their work environment, whether low-paid or, in this case, where a boss decided to cancel an employee's vacation.
According to text messages shown in the clip, someone had resigned and more help was needed until another hire could be sorted out. The boss informed the employee that his leave, which was scheduled for next week, would be delayed by a few months and also informed Human Resources of the news.
Between reading and reading messages, Sanz intervened with his own opinions and explained how unfair it seemed to him to cancel the sick leave period without any type of conversation.
The employee responded with frustration that HR received the news before they did. The leave was for his brother's wedding, which was entered into the system seven months in advance. “I can help more until I leave, but I can't change my vacation dates,” the employee's message ends.
Her boss then offered to reduce her leave period to fly only round-trip for the wedding and “then take three days over the weekend instead of three weeks.”
The employee clarified once again that he would not be changing their commute at all and suggested perhaps hiring one or two temporary employees while they are on leave.
“Dude, I can't stress you enough, your license is cancelled, we just can't do it. “I’m sorry,” the boss’s last message read.
This seemed to be the final straw for the employee who responded that he was unsure about returning to work. They decided to start their leave immediately after sending the message to think about whether they wanted to stay with the company and would forward all messages from their boss to Human Resources.
