Many work hours are lost through injury and illness because of family violence, as well as the loss of valued staff that may have to leave work or move to escape violence.
As an employer you can help a woman who is experiencing violence by:
• Offering time off during the day to get help or legal advice
• Offering compassionate or extended leave
• Offering relocation or transfer to another branch if possible
• Making sure that no staff release private information about your workers, even to the worker's whanau/family members
• If the abuser is ringing to check up, refuse to give out information about her.
You can help provide a safe workplace by:
• Providing a confidential contact person or advice service within the workplace eg. the Employee Assistance Programme
• Displaying posters and help information (in toilets and staff areas)
• Offering staff training on family violence issues
• Taking concerns about harassment seriously
• Not putting up with any verbal abuse, sexist jokes, bullying and other forms of abuse in your workplace.
Everyone can do something to help stop family violence.