Domestic violence has long been seen as a private issue that can cause serious problems at home, but some say it is also sapping millions of dollars away from businesses due to missed workdays, increased health care costs and other consequences.
Human resources professionals gathered at a Partnership Against Domestic Violence conference Wednesday on the effects domestic violence has in the workplace and ways to prevent it. Victims of severe violence by intimate partners lose nearly 8 million days of paid work annually, according to a U.S. study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Putting an end to domestic violence is not only the right thing to do, but it’s also good for business,” Home Depot chief financial officer Carol Tomé said at the event in Atlanta.
One in four women and one in seven men have experienced “severe physical violence by an intimate partner,” the CDC says. Domestic violence can spill over to the workplace when a victim is harassed, misses work or has problems at work due to stress or injuries.
Managers play a role in responding to signs such as an employee uncharacteristically missing work, according to Verizon Enterprise Solutions human resources senior vice president Martha Delehanty. “I would rather be wrong and sorry than right and late.”
Tomé said it can be challenging. “I had a woman on my team who was being violated, and this was very difficult for me personally,” she said.
Balancing employee privacy is one of the issues. Intervention must be done in private and can focus on the employee’s safety, Partnership Against Domestic Violence chief executive Meagan Fulmer said. Her group is an Atlanta-based nonprofit that runs shelters for battered women and their children and offers other support to them.
Experts also advocate drawing up a company domestic violence policy, which can offer resources and establish a uniform response to domestic violence affecting the workplace.
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