Domestic violence a big issue for Australian businesses

Employers are doing more to prevent domestic violence amid the pandemic’s blurring of the boundaries between work and home.

Employers are doing more to prevent domestic violence amid the pandemic’s blurring of the boundaries between work and home.

The Champions of Change Coalition says 62 per cent of women who experience domestic violence are in the paid workforce, although men can also be victims.

Up to 78 per cent of perpetrators carry out their abuse during work hours using workplace resources, the coalition says.

WHAT THE LAW SAYS

All workers, including part-time and casual employees, are legally entitled to five leave days each year if they experience violence or abuse from a close relative.

Over 60 per cent of women experience domestic violence.

However, the leave is not paid and only applies if victims “need to do something to deal” with the abuse, says workplace law expert Ian Neil.

A senior counsel since 2006, Neil believes there is little awareness of domestic violence leave, meaning very few victims take it.

“The proof is in the pudding really – as someone who practises in this area, it’s not something I have encountered an actual incidence of,’’ he says.

WHY BUSINESSES STEP UP

With domestic violence costing Australian businesses $1.9bn in lost productivity and staff absenteeism each year, employers are increasingly aware of the responsibility to take a stand.

Recruiter Randstad is among the most recent organisations to implement a domestic violence policy – providing 10 days of paid domestic violence leave per year.

Victims are also provided with 10 days of emergency accommodation should they need to leave their home immediately.

“The statistics show that one in three women experience domestic violence from the age of 15 – so there’s a good chance this does impact our people,’’ says Randstad HR manager Brooke O’Keefe.

Mining giant Rio Tinto last year expanded its domestic violence support package to provide uncapped paid leave to victims and a range of supports such as security, new telephone numbers and email protection.

In what is believed to be an Australian first, the policy allows paid leave to perpetrators who want to stop the violence by attending behavioural change programs or counselling or moving out of the family home.

While Rio Tinto sustainability general manager Rachel Durdin believes it will take years to build a workplace culture where perpetrators feel able to ask for help, she says it is a key to addressing the problem.

“We are only dealing with half of the problem if we are only working with victims,’’ she says.

WHY IT MATTERS

White Ribbon Australia workplace programs lead Nicole Sheehan says the view that domestic violence is a “closed door, home issue’’ is no longer acceptable within the workplace.

“We are definitely learning to understand the correlation between what happens in someone’s personal life and how it affects how they show up in their work life,’’ she says.

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Originally published as Domestic violence a big issue for Australian businesses