{"id":10040,"date":"2022-10-06T09:51:00","date_gmt":"2022-10-06T13:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.healthadvocate.com\/site\/?p=10040"},"modified":"2022-10-10T09:58:17","modified_gmt":"2022-10-10T13:58:17","slug":"domestic-violence-and-the-workplace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.healthadvocate.com\/site\/article\/domestic-violence-and-the-workplace","title":{"rendered":"Domestic violence and the workplace"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Domestic violence is often considered a dark yet private matter, but the truth is that it has the potential to become a serious workplace issue. Here are some helpful tips on how to handle its impact in the office.<\/strong><\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

By Bert Alicea, MA, CEAP, Executive Vice President, EAP+Work\/Life Services<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

While domestic violence is often considered a dark yet private matter, the truth is that it has the potential to become a serious workplace issue. Domestic violence follows victims to the workplace, and the effects are devastating to the victim, their coworkers, and the company\u2019s bottom line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Organizations may employ victims of domestic violence or perpetrators, both of which could lead to lost productivity, legal concerns, other costs, and the potential for an incident in the workplace. However, by implementing prevention and intervention strategies and creating an action plan, brokers and leaders within the organization can help businesses safeguard their employees while minimizing their liability and risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The spillover effect<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

No business is immune to the spillover of domestic violence into the workplace. While domestic violence impacts people of all ages, races and backgrounds, it does affect women more often than men. Overall, 1 in 4 women in the U.S. will be abused by an intimate partner during her lifetime. Among employed adults (men and women), the number is 1 in 5. Alarmingly, the leading cause of death for women at work is homicide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than half of the victims surveyed say that their ability to work is affected by domestic violence; an astonishing 75 percent report some form of harassment from their abusers while they are at work. Further, a Harvard University School of Public Health study found that 71 percent of all HR and security personnel reported an incident of domestic violence had occurred on company property.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is no one root cause of domestic violence; it can stem from a combination of individual, societal, and situational factors. Violence and abuse can be learned behaviors originating from family or community, while other contributing factors can include fragmentation of family structure, easy access to weaponry, TV and other media, an unstable economy, substance abuse, and others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within the workplace, violence may be triggered by layoffs or downsizing, insensitive terminations, rigid management styles, lack of individual responsibility where the employee does not feel heard or understood, or office romances, among others. All of these factors can lead to stress, which raises the probability of violence occurring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not a personal issue, but a personnel issue<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Whether it\u2019s a physical injury, a threatening phone call, stalking in the parking lot, missed work due to abuse at home, stress, or distraction, intimate partner violence can result in high absenteeism and turnover, lost wages, a heightened risk of violence to coworkers, and lost productivity. The price for everyone is steep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Costs associated with domestic violence can include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n