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.
From Ghana, Accra
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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.
From Ghana, Accra
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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
From India, Bangalore
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8225Your 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
From India, Bangalore
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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.
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.
From United+States, San+Francisco
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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.
From United+States, San+Francisco
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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
From India, Bangalore
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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
From India, Bangalore
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Even in India, down south, the scale of funeral rituals is elaborate and costly. Though these people don't extend it to be for months, at least on the day of the funeral, good money is spent on the rath, beating drums, crackers, drinks, etc. Food expenses are low, though. But on the day of obsequies rites, say, on the 11th or 40th or/and anniversary, a lavish feast is thrown. The friends' assigned responsibilities are more or less like the Protocol Officer of a state/central government, who are expected to perform certain key functions on behalf of the government. Like this, he can be proved of as he can be considered as a Protocol Officer of his company. Let him cherish the experience, though not liked.
From India, Bangalore
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From India, Bangalore
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Dear Mr. Kumar,
The cost incurred in South India for funerals is minuscule compared to what is incurred in West Africa. In West Africa, people get into lifelong debt on account of a funeral in the family. Some people even have to sell their piece of land to incur such a heavy cost. We have operations in Nigeria, Benin, Cameroon, and Ghana. As part of welfare activity, we provide funeral subsidies to employees, but that does not suffice. Therefore, we also provide interest-free loans apart from the funeral subsidy. Many employees still incur heavy loans outside because what is offered by the company does not suffice. The expenses incurred for a funeral are much more than what is incurred in a wedding. The head priest and the community leaders will refuse to attend the funeral ceremony and conduct rituals when minimum requirements are not met in terms of feasting and celebrations, which are part of their tribal tradition.
One of the reasons private mortuaries flourish as a business in West Africa is due to the extravagant funeral practices. In South India, the rituals are time-bound and defined as to when each ceremony has to happen. In West Africa, bodies are kept in mortuaries not only for months but sometimes even for a couple of years while the family mobilizes the money for the grand rituals prescribed by their tradition. I have regularly visited Lagos and lived there for 3 years. Once, my driver's mother passed away, and he had to keep the body in the mortuary for over one and a half years to gather the required funds. Despite being eligible for a funeral subsidy equivalent to 3 months' salary and a funeral loan equivalent to 6 months' salary from the company, he still needed one and a half years to sell his small piece of land to cover the funeral expenses. To understand the burden of a common man in West Africa when organizing a funeral, I recommend watching the Nigerian movie "Naija goes to heaven."
Thank you.
From United+States, San+Francisco
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The cost incurred in South India for funerals is minuscule compared to what is incurred in West Africa. In West Africa, people get into lifelong debt on account of a funeral in the family. Some people even have to sell their piece of land to incur such a heavy cost. We have operations in Nigeria, Benin, Cameroon, and Ghana. As part of welfare activity, we provide funeral subsidies to employees, but that does not suffice. Therefore, we also provide interest-free loans apart from the funeral subsidy. Many employees still incur heavy loans outside because what is offered by the company does not suffice. The expenses incurred for a funeral are much more than what is incurred in a wedding. The head priest and the community leaders will refuse to attend the funeral ceremony and conduct rituals when minimum requirements are not met in terms of feasting and celebrations, which are part of their tribal tradition.
One of the reasons private mortuaries flourish as a business in West Africa is due to the extravagant funeral practices. In South India, the rituals are time-bound and defined as to when each ceremony has to happen. In West Africa, bodies are kept in mortuaries not only for months but sometimes even for a couple of years while the family mobilizes the money for the grand rituals prescribed by their tradition. I have regularly visited Lagos and lived there for 3 years. Once, my driver's mother passed away, and he had to keep the body in the mortuary for over one and a half years to gather the required funds. Despite being eligible for a funeral subsidy equivalent to 3 months' salary and a funeral loan equivalent to 6 months' salary from the company, he still needed one and a half years to sell his small piece of land to cover the funeral expenses. To understand the burden of a common man in West Africa when organizing a funeral, I recommend watching the Nigerian movie "Naija goes to heaven."
Thank you.
From United+States, San+Francisco
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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.
From Ghana, Accra
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From Ghana, Accra
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Dear TIIMORG, Its fine to be part of Job Description, since that becomes part of his job.
From United+States, San+Francisco
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From United+States, San+Francisco
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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 member of the family. My driver described it like this: throughout the year following the funerals, he had to distribute provisions and clothing to his relatives. Poor chaps.
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 in the funerals of employees, 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.
From India, Bangalore
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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 in the funerals of employees, 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.
From India, Bangalore
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