#3: How to foster a culture where employees feel they can ask for domestic abuse support

These are just some reasons women who have accessed Women’s Aid’s direct services have given as to why they have held back from telling someone at work about the abuse they are being subjected to.

So far in this series we have explored why it makes sense to develop a workplace response to domestic abuse and the different support measures employers can offer (click the links to catch up if you haven’t read those articles yet). But here’s the thing when it comes to the practical implementation of even the most carefully considered response: Accessing available support typically requires an employee to take the leap of speaking to someone at work about their experience. For all the reasons outlined above and more, that’s not an easy thing to do. Survivor-victims are often cautious about telling someone about their situation. They may be afraid, or ashamed of being judged or blamed for the abuse. They may also have concerns that someone’s response could put them in danger or have negative repercussions for any feelings of safety and respite their workplace offers them.

A meaningful workplace response to domestic violence takes into account that impacted employees must overcome many barriers before they can access the support on offer. Employers should consider how they will foster an environment which signals safety and builds trust among employees that they will be supported effectively. Being intentional about this can encourage impacted employees to speak to a designated person or trusted colleague.

As this is such a critical step for employers to take, we’ll explore the topic in different ways over the next few articles. Today, our focus will be on three things which can help impacted employees feel they will be believed and supported if they ask for help:

1. Visible senior leadership commitment
2. Being explicit about zero tolerance
3. Initial and ongoing awareness raising

1. Visible senior leadership commitment

Senior leaders are pivotal in influencing workplace culture. Genuine commitment to opposing domestic violence and abuse at the most senior levels of an organisation has a critical impact on building employee trust in the workplace response. Their engagement with the issue signals to staff that it’s OK speak about it at work and they will be taken seriously if they do. They set the tone for how employees engage with the issue.

A review of the implementation of Vodafone’s global policy on domestic violence and abuse identifies the demonstration of strong commitment by senior leaders as one of its key learnings. This has sent an important message throughout the organisation about the seriousness with which Vodafone addresses the issue for all employees. In Ireland, one way of achieving leadership commitment was through mandatory training for all people managers, run in partnership with Women’s Aid. Crucially, the CEO and Senior Leadership Team participated in the training alongside the people managers, promoting that this commitment was driven from the top.

Senior leaders need to be explicit about their ongoing commitment to supporting affected employees. Their messaging about the organisation’s response to domestic violence and abuse should be visible to all employees and renewed over time.

Senior leaders can demonstrate their commitment in many ways.

• Issue a statement which is explicit about their support for the workplace response to domestic abuse. This could be in written, visual, or video format.
• Participate in related training and/or awareness raising initiatives.
• Ensure employees designated to respond to domestic abuse are given time to manage such conversations and resources to support their own wellbeing.

In addition to demonstrating commitment to the workplace domestic violence response, senior leaders have a role in reinforcing other relevant business practices. For example, employees subjected to domestic abuse will want reassurance that if they speak to somebody, what they have shared will be kept confidential and any support provided will be done so discreetly. If there is already a wider culture in place which values confidentiality, this can give employees the confidence that confidentiality will likely be upheld in this instance too.

2. Being explicit about zero tolerance

A strong focus is placed on survivor-victims when responding to domestic abuse. As understandable as that is, what often happens is the response can become solely focused on the survivor, inadvertently hiding the perpetrator of abuse from view. This reinforces the false idea that the survivor-victim is responsible for stopping the abuse, rather than the person who is choosing to be abusive. The all too common (but misguided) question, ‘Why doesn’t she just leave?’ captures this idea. A better question to ask is, ‘What is he doing that is stopping her from leaving?’ This places accountability for the abuse back where it belongs – with the perpetrator.

This can lead to survivor-victims fearing that speaking to someone about the abuse they are being subjected to may result in a heavy burden being placed upon them. It comes in the form of an expectation on them to take steps to ‘fix’ or ‘resolve’ the issue. As we can see at the start of this article, this concern is a barrier to women seeking support on domestic violence at work. To counteract this, employers should demonstrate to their employees that they understand who is accountable for domestic violence and abuse.

As uncomfortable as it may be to confront this reality, the high prevalence of domestic violence makes it likely that a workforce could include employees who perpetrate violence, abuse, and coercive control. A meaningful workplace response therefore also needs to address employees who perpetrate domestic abuse. We recommend taking these two steps:

• Issue a strong statement about the unacceptability of domestic violence and abuse.
• Hold employees accountable in line with standard disciplinary processes if they perpetrate domestic abuse in the workplace, during work time, or through work equipment.

A workplace domestic abuse support policy and the messaging around it can be used to action these points. If you’re wondering how to address them in your policy and implement them in practice, the free resources at www.DVatWork.ie will help you. Read section 8. Conduct in the Workplace for more information.

Being explicit that your organisation has zero tolerance for the perpetration of domestic abuse signals to employees who are impacted by it that there is a clear understanding of who is accountable. This can help create a sense of safety for impacted employees and encourage them to seek out the support that is being offered. This matters for all survivor-victims but is doubly important in cases where both the survivor and perpetrator work in the same organisation.

3. Initial and ongoing awareness-raising

Responding to domestic violence and abuse is relatively new for many workplaces in Ireland and employers need to be intentional in their approach to creating an environment where impacted employees feel they can talk about the issue. This is crucial for domestic violence leave and other supports to be useful in practice. The most basic level of this is for employees to be made aware of the support that is available and how to access it. One step further is for domestic abuse to be made as commonplace a conversation as other workplace health and safety issues. This can help affected employees feel less stigmatised and therefore more likely to seek support.

Raising awareness is an important step during the initial implementation phase of a workplace response to domestic abuse. But don’t let it stop there! Initiatives to raise awareness about domestic abuse and coercive control and the workplace response to it should be rolled out on an ongoing basis. This ensures both new and tenured employees are aware of your organisation’s commitment to supporting impacted employees. It reinforces that domestic abuse is taken seriously and keeps available supports top of mind for everyone.

When raising awareness, it’s important to consider ways that will reach all staff, particularly those who may be harder to communicate with. For example, shift workers, those who are not site-based, and employees whose preferred language is different to the dominant one used in the workplace.

Here are some general ideas to help you on your way with raising awareness:

• Have senior leaders discuss domestic abuse and promote the support measures available via email, video, in meetings, etc.
• Include information about the workplace response wherever employees access information related to health, safety, and wellbeing and in staff induction process.
• Distribute digital posters and information leaflets online or in a conspicuous location at the work site.
• Call attention to the issue at certain key times of the year, e.g. 25th November – International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

There are also many ways to partner with Women’s Aid in your awareness raising efforts:

• Choose Women’s Aid as your charity of the year.
• Implement our Employer Response to Domestic Abuse Training Programme. This programme includes a 1-hour domestic abuse awareness event for all staff to equip everyone with a basic understanding of the issue and how to respond to it.
• Bring your team together and participate in our regular well-being challenges and events.
• Organise a workplace fundraiser for Women’s Aid.
• And there are plenty more ideas on our website: Corporate Support.

The introduction of statutory domestic violence leave means that every workplace in Ireland should be a space where impacted employees can find support. However, to meaningfully implement the legislation employers must be intentional about fostering a workplace culture where employees feel it is safe to speak to someone about the abuse they are being subjected to. This is the first step in making sure that any support measures on offer are accessible in practice.

🔍 Case study: Fenero 🔍

Fenero’s CEO and Directors are passionate advocates for raising awareness about domestic abuse. Over the last few years they have completed various fundraisers for Women’s Aid, showing their employees they care about the issue and are committed to responding to it. All people managers from the CEO down have completed training delivered by Women’s Aid to support the implementation of their domestic violence and abuse policy. This policy goes above and beyond legal requirements, providing 10 days of paid domestic violence among other supports. They have also taken the time to develop guidelines for managers, which will help them respond to impacted employees safely and effectively.

Fenero’s workplace response to domestic abuse is embedded alongside other initiatives focused on creating a culture which is safe, open and supportive for all. For example, they have worked on the reduction of mental health stigma and improving equitable and inclusive company practices.

📢 Call to action 📢

Can you answer ‘yes’ to each of the statements below in relation to your organisation? If not, plan what action you will take to address any gaps.

✅ Senior leaders have been involved in the messaging around our workplace response to domestic abuse.

✅ Our domestic abuse support policy addresses how the organisation responds to employees who perpetrate domestic violence.

✅ At least one initiative is taken each year to raise awareness about domestic abuse and available workplace support.

Further reading

The resources available at www.DVatWork.ie provide useful information on developing a workplace culture where employees subjected to domestic abuse feel safe to speak to someone about their experience. In particular, we recommend reading these sections:

• Section 5: Disclosures (with special attention to pp.20-22)
• Section 8: Conduct in the workplace
• Section 9: Awareness raising and training

This article is part of a series written by Hannah Wayte, who leads the Employer Engagement Programme at Women’s Aid, a specialist service for employers. For more information on this programme, visit the Women’s Aid website. To access free resources for employers developing their workplace response to domestic abuse, visit www.DVatWork.ie.

Article series: Workplace support for domestic violence and abuse

1: Why a workplace response to domestic abuse is necessary 

2: How employers can support staff impacted by domestic abuse

3: How to foster a culture where employees feel they can ask for domestic abuse support