mumbai when facebook coo sheryl sandberg lost her husband in 2015 ceo mark zuckerberg told her to take as much time off as she needed to cope with the loss in doing so he set off a new trend in hr policies bereavement leaveearlier this year sandberg on her fb page admitted how difficult it had been for her to join work immediately after the loss and how much the leave had helped her cope she then announced a 20day bereavement leave for facebook employees the maximum any company offers as grief leavethe sandberg incident has had a ripple effect around the globe including india now several companies here offer anything from a day to five days off to mourn the passing of loved ones these include majors such as tata consultancy services infosys cipla and hilton india earlier an employee was expected to apply for privilege leavethomas kuruvilla managing partner in arthur d little a consultancy firm that offers three days of bereavement leave says it was introduced to ensure that employees spend at least a few days with their families in their hour of crisis we consider the immediate family a part of our group he saidin most cases bereavement leave covers only immediate family members spouse children parents siblings grandparents grandkids and not extended relatives in select cases it includes pets too they are as much an immediate family said ahmed aftab naqvi cofounder and ceo of gozoop a digital marketing company which offers pet bereavement leavewhile there is no law mandating bereavement leave as in the case of maternity leave companies believe going the extra mile in such trying circumstances will help increase engagement with employeesa study conducted in 2017 has shown how organisations are increasing their overall benefit offerings to attract and retain top talent and they are making compassionate leave part of paid timeoff benefits said prabir jha global chief people officer of ciplaalong with providing time off companies provide support to employees through counselling if required for their emotional wellbeingat carlson rezidor hotel group the bereavement leave policy is also applicable to people who are on probation said its ceo south asia raj rana the chain which owns radisson and park plaza brands offers four days of paid grief leave in case of the death of an immediate family member or distant relativesome companies also consider flexitimings or workfromhome options for bereaved employees we are sensitive to such requests during personal exigencies said b venkataramana group president human resources landmark group which runs the lifestyle chainnijo simon a 33yearold manager with lifestyle international who availed bereavement leave after the death of his father found it really helpful it shows the organisation is sympathetic towards our needs he said