Employers play an important role in making the workplace safe for victims of domestic violence.  A safe work environment includes many components such as policies, training, security, flexile leave and benefits and employee education.  Domestic violence can cause victims to be absent, tardy and distracted.  Some abusers actively interfere with their victims’ ability to remain employed.  In addition, once a victim tries to separate from a violent partner, the abuser may still find the victim at the workplace.

In order to address these issues, the Task Force provides advocacy and education to:
Help employers recognize that family violence is a business issue
Educate employers and their staff on the issue of domestic violence
Work with employers to develop policies to keep employees safe at work
Provide employment advocacy to victims of domestic violence if they become at risk of losing their jobs due to domestic violence issues

“Are there victims or perpetrators in my workplace?”
Anyone can be a victim of domestic violence, from the highest paid, longest-working employee to the lowest-skilled part-timer.  Likewise, anyone can be an abuser, regardless of how well-mannered, educated and well-paid the employee may be.  Abusers can be very charming to people who aren’t the targets of their abuse.  Statistically, women are much more likely to be victims of battering than men.

Possible Warning Signs

Victims may:
Be anxious, nervous, unusually quiet or jumpy at work
Receive many upsetting personal phone calls, faxes or visits
Have frequent injuries, explained or unexplained
Wear unseasonable clothing to conceal injuries
Be late or absent from work a lot (waiting for injuries to heal)
Have limited attention span
Show a marked decrease in job performance
Seek extra work to avoid going home

Perpetrators may:
Deny problems but appear unwell, irritable or tearful
Complain of lack of sleep
Lose weight and have loss of appetite
Experience physical complains such as stomach pain, headache and tics
Admit to “marital problems” but minimize the violence and abuse
Miss work frequently (to attend court hearings or to perpetrate abuse)
Need a place to stay because of a court no-contact order
Be unable to locate the spouse or partner (and fabricate a story that she ran off with another)
Have a sudden need for money such as lawyer’s fees and extravagant apology gifts

 
Safety At Work- Possible Steps You Can Take:

Provide protective services:
Security personnel to walk employees to their cars and to screen at entries
Consider monitoring work site with security cameras
Offer to relocate a threatened employee to another work site or another location at that site
Offer to alter an employee’s work schedule to make the schedule less predictable to the abuser
Provide silent alarms or buzzers at work stations of employees who need them
Allow employees time off to address safety needs
Encourage victims to provide a photo of the abuser so those in screening positions can help provide protection
Encourage use of existing resources such as law enforcement, restraining orders and cell phones

 

Besides the TFFV, the following resources are available to you as you try to deal with safety in your workplace:

Wisconsin Coalition Against Domestic Violence:
608-255-0539

National Workplace Resource Center on Domestic Violence:
415-252-8900

Corporate Alliance for Ending Domestic Violence:
309-664-0667

Task Force on Family Violence:
414-276-1911
414-727-2342(TTY)

 

Training for Professionals Program

Our Training for Professionals program offers on-site employee training titled “When Family Violence Comes to Work” for human resource professionals and security staff of local companies.  Call the Task Force on Family Violence at 414-276-1911 (414-727-2342 TTY) to explore the possibility of setting up a Training for Professionals program at your work site.