A year ago, I lost my father. And, with it, I also lost part of the ground that supported me. It was my first big loss.
Grief is an experience that dilates time, a space where words lose meaning and silence takes shape. There is no possible preparation for absence, only the continuous effort to relearn how to live with it. In this very intimate and vulnerable moment, I discovered something that transcends any human resources policy: the power of empathy at work and a structure prepared not to weaken when someone is not, for reasons of force majeure, entirely present. I remember hearing, with a mixture of relief and gratitude, the words: “you’ll come to work when you’re ready”. And this phrase didn’t come from the law, it came from empathy. There was no bureaucracy, there was no counting of days, there was humanity.
Portuguese legislation provides for a limited number of days for mourning, as if pain followed a calendar or as if love could be ended within an administrative period. But the truth is that grief is not a license, it is a journey. And the time needed to complete it is not measured in working days. And when an organization recognizes this, it rises above the norms and gets closer to its true reason for being: people. By allowing me to grieve with time and dignity, the company where I work showed respect for my time of pain, recognized my right to suffer and also my human condition.
At a time when there is so much talk about mental health and corporate well-being, it is essential to remember that companies are not only economic entities, but are also human communities. And in a community, the suffering of one must echo, even if silently, in the hearts of all.
My father’s departure taught me many things: that love doesn’t disappear, it just changes form… that time doesn’t heal, but it teaches… and that empathy at work is one of the purest forms of respect.
Today, I speak in the first person, but also on behalf of all those who return to work with their hearts still in ruins, trying to reconcile pain with daily responsibilities. Perhaps one day we will stop seeing grief as a work inconvenience and start seeing it for what it really is: an expression of what makes us human, the ability to love and feel absence deeply. Looking back, I realize that time does not heal, but it teaches. And that in pain, I found a lesson about what it means to belong: working in a place where being a person comes before being a professional.
Therefore, it is essential that companies, leaders and teams learn to humanize grief. Allow the pain to have its time, let the silence be respected, let the absence not need to be disguised. Because when an organization is able to embrace fragility, it becomes stronger and more dignified. And, inevitably, when people feel protected and supported in the darkest moments of life, they return to work more whole, more available to give of themselves, with gratitude, loyalty and purpose.
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