Is It Fair for HR to Include Funeral Attendance in Job Schedules? My Friend's Concern Explained

Good Day,

My friend is an Administrative Officer in an HR Department. His job schedule was changed recently, and the new one has an unusual responsibility: to represent the Department at Funerals.

Can a normal job schedule go beyond the authorized working days? Can attending funerals be part of a job schedule? My friend is very worried about the development.

Dear Tiimorg, Your friend is an administrative officer. In the event of the death of an employee, a representative of the company is sent to attend the employee's funeral. Generally, this responsibility is assigned to administration personnel worldwide, which aligns with what your friend, as an Admin Officer, is currently doing.

The question then arises regarding the frequency of deaths per month. Are funerals occurring at such a high rate that it is causing concern for your friend? It is likely that he is juggling numerous other administrative tasks in addition to this responsibility. Furthermore, by attending funerals on weekends, he may be sacrificing part of his weekly off. Why has this situation occurred, and why has he not requested compensatory time off?

I must admit that I am somewhat surprised by the nature of this query appearing on a general HR forum.

Thanks,
Dinesh Divekar

I see that you are based in Accra. As per the regulations in Ghana, your friend will be entitled to a compensatory day off if he attends the office or office-related work on a day off. This entitlement is up to the managerial level. I believe your friend is just an administrative officer and hence is entitled to a compensatory day off whenever he attends funerals of his colleagues or their family members on days off. When the funeral happens on a working day, which would be rare, it will be deemed as being on duty. The rules in West African countries differ from those in other parts of the world. Your friend will also be entitled to a transport allowance whenever he attends a funeral.

Funerals in West Africa

For the information of my Asian friends, funerals are significant rituals and celebrations in West Africa. Many times, the deceased person is placed in a mortuary for months or even up to a year until the family members gather enough money to host a large feast for his entire community, aside from his relatives. The family often incurs heavy debts to conduct the funeral. It's a celebration because they believe the temporary life in this world has ended, and the deceased person is returning to where he belongs. The rituals are extensive. New clothes must be purchased for all the relatives, wine and delicacies must be abundant. Sometimes funerals occur rapidly one after the other, as those who have stored the bodies in the mortuaries have secured funds to conduct funerals for their loved ones. Often, one may find an employee regularly attending funerals almost every weekend continuously for many weeks.

The mortuary business is a significant industry in West Africa due to these rituals.

Dear Anonymous,

Thank you for educating me on the rituals after death in West Africa. I did not know the elaborateness of these rituals. In other countries, attending a funeral is just a few hours' activity. All that a company representative has to do is place a wreath, and beyond that, nothing.

Thanks,
Dinesh Divekar

Thanks for the contributions. They are well noted. However, there is an aspect I need clarification for. Is it proper to include attending funerals on weekends as part of an employee's normal job description? That is where the issue lies. An officer can be asked to attend a funeral on behalf of the organization, but making that one of the job descriptions is concerning. Your input, please.

Dear TIIMORG,

It's fine to be part of the job description since that becomes a part of his job.

Thank you.

Thank you to our friend from Khana for providing the details, and I appreciate the time taken. What a precarious situation there. Sad. Some families of Muslim communities also have to perform certain procedures connected to the death of a family member. My driver described it like this: throughout the year following the funerals, he had to distribute provisions and clothing to his relatives. Poor chaps.

Job responsibilities related to funerals

If the job profile includes this kind of task, what can one do? But who knows, it could be an added advantage too. It's customary even in India, especially in large industrial units, for the Welfare & Liaison Officer to represent the company at the funerals of employees and ex-employees and offer the company's contribution towards funeral expenses. It's common in the mining industry where the frequency and rate of deaths in service are comparatively high. I have also done this when some of my staff died. There is nothing wrong with doing this noble duty.