Thursday, November 12 | 12 PM PST / 3 PM EST
Join Empathy and members of the Google Global Benefits team for a candid fireside chat on what it takes to support employees through loss, before, during, and after leave.
Register here
Webinar Details
95% of employees say bereavement-related benefits matter to them, and roughly half say their current benefits aren't actually meeting their needs. For HR and Benefits leaders, the conversation is shifting from “how many days of leave” to “what happens next?”
Joining Empathy will be Melissa Fetzer, US Absence, Accommodations, & Risk Lead at Google, and Michelle Julian Atkins, Benefits Specialist at Google. They’ll share how the company is thinking through grief and loss support, from what sparked the conversation to what they’re learning along the way.
What you’ll learn
Evaluating grief support
Gain a clearer framework for evaluating grief support within your broader benefits strategy
Practical actions
Learn practical actions for supporting employees and managers before, during, and after leave
Real-world look
Get a real-world look at how one of the most recognized employers in the world is approaching grief and loss support
Meet the speakers
Melissa Fetzer is based in Boulder, Colorado and leads the U.S. absence, accommodations, and risk team, part of Google People Operations, managing complex leave administration, policy modernizations, and high-impact vendor partnerships. Melissa specializes in aligning robust compliance systems with workplace empathy to design modern benefits programs that truly care for employees.
Michelle is the Program Manager for US Life Insurance at Google, where she leads financial protection and comprehensive grief and bereavement programming for employees nationwide. She is passionate about humanizing benefits, pairing financial security with thoughtful, trauma-informed resources for navigating life, illness, and loss. Drawing from over a decade of foundational leadership in education and People Management at the Google Children’s Center, Michelle brings deep empathy, operational excellence, and an employee-first approach to global benefits design.
Sophie Ruddock leads commercial operations and strategic growth initiatives to drive scaled impact for those experiencing life’s most challenging moments. She brings over a decade of expertise in scaling high-growth technology companies and building transformative global organizations. Her track record spans the public, private, and non-profit sectors across the UK, US, and European markets.
What Happens When
Bereavement Leave Ends,
But Grief Doesn’t?
Bereavement Leave Ends,
But Grief Doesn’t?
Join Empathy and members of the Google Global Benefits team for a candid fireside chat on what it takes to support employees through loss, before, during, and after leave.