Today's Tip
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 Do not turn a blind eye to glaring injuries. The situation will not resolve itself if you ignore it. HR and managers should be properly trained and drilled on how to respond to situations that involve domestic violence. Workers
who demonstrate signs of abuse should be approached in a
professional and sensitive way to assess the threat both to the worker
and the workplace. Institute specific plans to ensure worker safety, including increased security, if a victim leads you to believe that the company may be threatened. Create
policies that encourage victims of domestic violence to seek support
through the EAP or local domestic violence agencies.
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Dear ,
For most people, there is a strict separation between home and work. Often times co-workers' lives at home are usually kept a mystery. After all, what relevance can an individual's private life have to their work so long they get the job done?
This mentality can be surprisingly and horrifyingly dangerous. An employee's abusive spouse may go to your company in search of their partner and, in the end, bring the violence to your workplace.
If you have an employee that you suspect may be the victim of physical abuse at home, your company could be in great danger. This is not to mention the danger your employee is in when away from the workplace.
Co-workers and management may be uncomfortable and guilty about addressing the issue, but is important to handle the situation before it gets out of hand. Read on for more information on domestic violence's affect on the workplace and what you can do to help.
Best regards,
Vanessa & Wilma
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When Violence at Home Visits the Workplace
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 How can you protect your people and your company?
It is estimated that workplace expenses on medical services associated with domestic violence total nearly $4.1billion per year. The cost alone is startling, but what do you do when domestic violence seeps into your workplace creating an environment of threat and danger?
Domestic violence is often a well-hidden crime. There is great shame associated with having your partner, the one that you have chosen to love, be the same person to control and abuse you. How can you tell your family, co-workers, or even your counselor that you are sometimes physically, emotionally or sexually abused by your partner? Not only is the topic generally avoided, but victims also make great efforts to cover up and excuse bruises, broken bones and other injuries.
So how does domestic violence affect your company?
The American Institute on Domestic Violence (2001) reports that of the 1.7 million incidents of workplace violence per year, almost 19,000 are committed by a person intimately known to the victim: a current or former spouse, partner, or lover - male or female. Domestic violence cuts across culture, class, race, religion, gender, sexual orientation.
Sixty percent of senior executives agree that domestic violence has a detrimental effect on their company's productivity. Most senior executives also recognize that they would benefit financially if they addressed the topic of domestic violence head on from the very beginning.
Not only are co-workers affected by feelings of guilt and pity, but productivity is also impacted when victims have increased absences, poor concentration and inefficiency due to anxiety, depression and other symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Even more chilling is the frightening possibility of an abuser arriving at the workplace and wreaking havoc on the victim and others at the scene.
View our tips for ways that HR and management can be proactive in reducing the impact of domestic violence at work.
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, Thank you for taking the time to read this month's Trauma Talk. We hope you have found the information useful. If there are any topics you would like to see featured in a future
article of Trauma Talk, please let us know and we
will do our best to address them. We appreciate your comments, stories,
and thoughts as they will help us further refine and enrich the newsletter in
such a way to benefit you. Please visit our forum here and respond to questions about this month's newsletter or feel free to post other queries and thoughts. We look forward to hearing from you! Until our next talk, stay healthy and take care.
Warmly,
The Trauma Team
Trauma Outreach Associates, Inc.
Phone: 415.772.9999
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In the next issue...
Trauma and the Brain
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