Deal With Divorce at Work: How to Handle It the Right Way

Going through the process of marriage dissolution can be quite hard work to do but what is more complicated is dealing with it without failing a challenging job. If you are working at a corporation where departments are interconnected and depend on each other a lot, you have to think out how you will combine the procedural difficulties with working productively. To help you make this hustle clear, we created this comprehensive guide. Feel free to share it with a friend who is working through a divorce right now.

Don’t panic

When you feel that you can’t cope with your workflow during divorce, the first thing you need to do is stop panicking. Until no one knows that you are divorcing, no one stares at you or condemns you for your choice behind your back. Your colleagues are busy with their own lives so you shouldn’t think that your marriage dissolution will become a topic for long discussions and rumors once someone from your office finds out that you are filing to split with your spouse.

What you should do now is accept your situation and understand that millions of people have been through it earlier. According to statistics, your marriage failure is not special (it’s rather a norm), so why would you worry what other people think about it?

Schedule your days

The second thing that is worth implementing into your daily routine is planning. If you are not used to scheduling your days from the moment you wake up until the minute you go to sleep, it’s time to start doing it now. You can use any tools for that (a conventional notebook, a bullet journal, or an app on your phone) to get things planned and done.

This action has a few goals. First, you will notice that you have time for everything during your week: your job, divorce matters, fitness, meeting with friends, time with your kids, etc. Second, you will not forget any important appointments regarding your divorce, e.g., meetings with your lawyer, deadlines for the printable divorce papers Utah submission, court hearings, and so on. Third, you will not have to put the additional pressure of remembering all your daily tasks on your mind that is already stressed out due to a split-up with your partner.

Tell your boss

The third thing is probably the scariest for those who work for someone’s business. ‘Do I have to tell my employer I got divorced?’ is the question that people ask pretty often. As an employee, you may feel worried and uncomfortable telling your boss about your divorce, but still, you have to do that.

Telling your manager about such a change in your personal life has a lot of reasons. The most important ones are the need for your boss to understand why your productivity is decreasing, why you may need some hours off to meet your lawyer or visit a court hearing. Finally, if your boss works alongside you for a long time, they will notice that your mood and attention to work have changed: to avoid misunderstandings and potential conflicts at work, it’s better to tell your manager about the process you’re going through.

Consider talking to the HR department

The next people who need to find out about your marital status change are HRs at your company. These people are there to make the company employees comfortable at work, so talking to them will be a good decision. Once you do it, they will see why they shouldn’t invite you with your spouse to a corporate evening or encourage you to take part in team-building the day you asked for a paid leave to visit the court.

Remember that you don’t need to provide any details on your divorce to any person at your work: after all, it’s not their business why you split with your wife or how you are dealing with your husband’s cheating. Keep private the things that you are not comfortable sharing but don’t try to hide your divorce as a fact from anyone.

Take care of your well-being

Now that you managed to do the toughest things regarding your divorce, consider taking some time off for yourself. You can do that with the help of your HR department as well. Ask them whether they provide the compensation of a fitness club card, medical insurance, or leisure. If it’s available, make use of these offers to improve your physical and mental health during a divorce. Also, large corporations may offer appointments with a company psychologist for their employees. Feel free to attend them if you feel that you cannot cope with the stress from the marriage dissolution on your own.

If you need days off, take them without doubt

The legal procedure of marriage termination may take weeks and months, and you are likely to need some days off to collect all the papers for filing, delivering them to your spouse, visiting the court office, etc. Therefore, you shouldn’t hesitate to ask for a leave of absence to divorce at your work: such a reason is quite enough to finish the process and stay out of the office for some time. Trying to combine the divorce procedure with full-time work may end up screwing up both.

Remember that the divorce doesn’t last for ages

Finally, you have to keep in mind that the divorce procedure does not last for years. Although the process is slowed due to the pandemic, it is still possible to get it done within a few months if you manage to settle the disagreements with your ex on your own. Consequently, what you need to do is try to find a common language with your husband or wife at home instead of fighting in front of a judge, and have your agreement written down before you enter the courtroom. If you choose the path of negotiated divorce, you will finalize the case sooner and spend less money on it.