Season 4 Episode 11: Human Resources Policy & Domestic Violence: Creating a Domestic Violence–Informed Organization

About This Episode

Consider this…

• Domestic violence represents 27% of violent events in the workplace

• 22% of victims required 31 or more days away from work to recover

• 22% of victims missed 3–5 days of work

• 56% of victims arrived late at least 5x/month

• 65% of companies do not have domestic violence policy

These statistics only represent a fraction of the picture of how domestic violence perpetrators impact their partner’s employment but also how they impact employers and the overall workplace environment. In addition to the impact on the survivor’s employment (poor performance, lateness, absenteeism, loss of income, loss of career advancement), employers face worker attrition, performance-related losses, and even liability.   

In this episode, David and Ruth discuss a range of issues associated with domestic violence perpetrator behavior and the workplace, including:

• The importance of consistent domestic abuse–informed culture (inside and out), especially if your organization’s work touches on families

• The different ways perpetrators harm a partner’s employment

• Different strategies organizations can engage in to make their human resource policy more domestic abuse–informed 

Additional Resources

• Podcast: Season 4 Episode 4: Being Abused by a Partner While Advocating for Others

• Podcast: Season 4 Episode 2: Coming “Out” As A Survivor in a Professional Setting: A Practitioner’s Journey

• Podcast: Season 3 Episode 3: Minisode on Worker Safety & Well-Being: When Workers Have Their Own Histories of Abuse

• Safe & Together Institute’s Ally Guide