Domestic violence does not always stay at home when victims go to work. It can and often does follow them to work. Domestic violence can spill over into the workplace via threatening and harassing phone calls, the absence from work due to injuries and lack of productivity as a result of the stress of the abusive relationship.
DID YOU KNOW?
- According to a national survey, 21% of full-time employed adults were victims of domestic violence.
- A study found that over 75% of domestic violence perpetrators used the workplace and workplace resources to express remorse or anger towards, check up on, pressure, or threaten their victim.
- One study of female domestic violence victims found that 44% were left without transportation when the abuser disabled their car or hid their car keys, inhibiting their ability to attend work.
COSTS
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that the annual cost of lost workplace productivity due to domestic violence equals $727.8 million
JOB PERFORMANCE
- Domestic violence victims lose nearly 8 million days of paid work.
- Approximately 1/4 of the 1 million women stalked each year report missing an average of 11 days from work as a result of the stalking.
EMPLOYERS RESPONSE
- Over 70% of workplaces in the U.S. have no formal program or policy that addresses workplace violence.
- Only 4% of all workplaces train employees on domestic violence and it impacts on the workplace.
The SHRM survey revealed that 16 percent of organizations have had a domestic violence incident in the past five years, 19 percent had an issue in the past year, and 22 percent did not know. Domestic violence is not an issue between a man and a woman, it is a community issue.
Employers can no longer turn a blind eye and continue to refer to domestic violence as a personal issue. Domestic violence is a workplace issue and employers are paying for it in healthcare or absenteeism as well as productivity.
