#171 From Personal Grief to Compassionate Employers: Rethinking Workplace Support with Lucy Carpenter

Lucy Carpenter leads the Compassionate Employers Programme at Hospice UK, supporting organisations to better care for employees experiencing grief, caring responsibilities, or life-changing diagnoses. Lived experience shapes Lucy’s passion. In our discussion, Lucy describes being a carer for her Dad in her early 20s, her Dad’s experience of working while living with a terminal illness and the simple steps all organisations could take to support employees.

This episode has been kindly supported by the Living Well Dying Well Trust. The creation, development and content of the episode remains the responsibility of Clare Fuller.

Key messages

• Lucy’s lived experience caring for her Dad with oesophageal cancer in her early 20s

• How grief, caring and her Dad’s work identity led Lucy into professional grief and advocacy work

• The story of her Dad’s workplace – what they did well and where off‑boarding fell short

• Workplaces as modern communities with a powerful role in grief, caring and serious illness

• Legislative changes in the UK around bereavement and carers’ rights

• The importance of psychological safety, compassion and advocacy at work

• Lucy’s “three pillars” for workplaces: visibility, education, and community

• Call to action for employers and individuals to plan, talk and advocate better

Resource

• Find out more about Hospice UK Compassionate Employers

• Listen to the podcast Working when living with a terminal illness with Joanne Smithson and Sam Royston

• Read the Dying Well: a good place to die report

• Read the Working with terminal illness: scoping review and HR survey findings report

• Find out more about the TUC The Dying to Work Campaign  

• Access info about Carers Week and put a date in your diary for next year

Bio

Lucy Carpenter – Compassionate Employers Lead, Hospice UK

Lucy leads the Compassionate Employers Programme at Hospice UK, supporting organisations to better care for employees experiencing grief, caring responsibilities, or life-changing diagnoses. Her team’s work reaches more than 165,000 employees across UK workplaces. With extensive experience as a facilitator, trainer, and advisor on compassionate leadership, Lucy brings expertise in issues related to death, dying, and grief at work.

Website: https://www.hospiceuk.org/compassionate-employers

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucy-carpenter-75386b199/