Domestic violence knows no boundaries. It may occur in the privacy of a home but inevitably it impacts on the productivity of employees as they struggle to perform to capacity in the workplace.
Since the launch of Partnerships Against Domestic Violence (PADV) in 1997, the Australian Government has pursued a subsiduary project, Business Against Domestic Violence, aimed at confirming support from the whole community to eliminate family violence.
When Australian Prime Minister John Howard launched the project, he said that employers had ways of reaching people that governments, churches and charities could not. He estimated that domestic violence cost the New South Wales community $1.5 billion annually through medical expenses, legal costs, corrective services, lost productivity and forgone income.
'While half of this is borne by victims, an estimated $400 million is paid by Governments through services such as sole parent pensions. The remaining bill is carried by business themselves, as raised anxiety levels reduce productivity rates or offenders and victims stay away from work altogether.
Already many large Australian companies operate alcohol and drug programs but more can be done. The Commonwealth and State Governments spend $226 million annually on crisis services for the victims of domestic violence, including a $25 million program announced last Friday to find new ways of preventing the cycle of violence infecting a new generation of abusers,' he said.
Since then, the Federal Government has poured funding into the PADV project, providing $25.3 million up until June, 2001. This figure was divided - $13.3 million Commonwealth projects and $12 million for national and State and Territory projects. The Commonwealth subsequently affirmed its commitment to ending domestic violence by providing a further $25 million (over four years) in the 1999-2000 budget.
However, while governments work on the overall picture, employers can can make their work environment a place of safety and harmony for victims of domestic violence by incorporating some simple guidelines in their occupational health and safety plans. There is a lot of information available to assist in the development of these guidelines and by incorporating them in to workplace policy, workers will feel more comfortable approaching bosses and collegues when they need help.
And, from the Family Violence Prevention Fund comes the Workplace Safety Plan. By encouraging workers that experience violence in the home to introduce some simple changes to their work practices, they will be more productive and less stressed.
Some of these steps include;
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