As you may know, the United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) set out to investigate the pricing practices of the death care industry in that country in March of 2019. They now have concluded the investigation with some findings but also indicated that “further change in the sector is necessary but some of the remedies we were considering could not safely be introduced in the middle of a national emergency (The COVID-19 pandemic)”. They further stated, “Our proposals will […]
Regulations
Afternoon edition: News you can use from public companies to cemeteries to COVID
In today’s Afternoon Edition we will bring you a myriad of different news from different parts of the death care spectrum. We lead off with an article from the United Kingdom that highlights that country’s largest provider of funeral services and cremations, Dignity PLC. As you may know, the British Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) recently ended its investigation into price practices in the funeral industry of Great Britain without imposing price controls, at this time on funeral and cremation […]
Afternoon edition: Consumer thoughts on funeral arrangements, more
I read an article from what appears to be a well educated writer/consumer entitled “A Parting Gift: Navigating the difficult world of funeral costs” the other day. It concerned the death of a 31-year old and the young adults who had to make the death care decisions that were quickly thrust upon them. You can read that article here. While I don’t agree with everything they had to say, there is probably lots to learn for funeral home owners from […]
Judge overturns crematory variance, what’s coming up in our profession
Today’s afternoon edition tells of a Dayton, Ohio, decision by a judge that overturns a variance needed to operate a crematory. Funeral Director Daily will also give you news of a large funeral home acquisition of six Ohio mortuaries. Finally, we’ve got some other stories and a listing of some of the events for learning coming up over the next couple of weeks in our profession. News from the world of Death Care: Judge: Dayton crematory should not have been […]
Price named to grieving children board. . . more news
The National Alliance for Grieving Children (NAGC) named death care industry veteran Jim Price to its Board of Directors last week. Price has over 50 years of experience in the funeral profession and is a 3rd generation funeral director. He currently serves as Senior Vice-President, Industry Relations for Park Lawn Corporation. Jim, earlier in his career, co-founded and served as EVP/COO of Foundation Partners Group. Price also has a long history of volunteer service in the profession and is currently […]
Are we failing our families?
This is a really difficult topic, but one that needs to be thought about. This article, entitled “Lack of collective mourning shows way pandemic has altered grief“, appeared in Sunday’s Minneapolis Star Tribune. It is thought provoking and gets to the essence of why modern funeral directors exist — to care for the living. It is a difficult subject and one that is hard to throw any blame at the death care industry because we are only following the rules […]
What kind of funeral service education do we want?
I came across this article from Scoop of New Zealand entitled, “Collaboration to benefit funeral services industry“. The details of the article go on to tell how different educational institutes in New Zealand are collaborating to develop programs of study for the funeral services industry. For instance, Open Polytechnic “will develop the educational resources, deliver the course and once approved (by the authorities), award the qualifications”. Auckland Institute of Studies will “connect the delivery of the programs with faciilites that […]
Lawsuit against Park Lawn affiliate
Last week Funeral Director Daily learned about a lawsuit against a Park Lawn affiliate cemetery from this article. The article contends that the American Moslem Society (AMS) of Dearborn, Michigan, has filed a lawsuit alleging an attempt by Woodmere Cemetery to breach its contract with the mosque. According to the article, AMS has purchased more than $5 million worth of graves and burial services over the last two decades. AMS now alleges that a contract that was signed in 2017 […]
FTC Funeral Rule comment period ends. . . what’s next?
The Federal Trade Commissions (FTC) “Funeral Rule” is up for review this summer and the comment period for public opinion into the rule ended on Monday. So, now that that period is over. . what comes next? First, a little review on the Funeral Rule. According to the Federal Register of the Federal Trace Commission and its reasoning for the review, that you can see here, the FTC issued the Funeral Rule in 1982 and it became fully effective on […]
Supreme Court rules in “landmark” civil rights case partly stemming from funeral home employment issue
On Monday the United States Supreme Court issued its opinion in a case that was partly brought to that court from a Michigan funeral home lawsuit alleging discrimination in employment as it pertains to gay, lesbian, and transgender people. Here is what an article from Real Clear Politics (RCP) says of this decision. “The Supreme Court ruled Monday that a landmark civil rights law protects gay, lesbian and transgender people from discrimination in employment, a resounding victory for LGBT rights […]
