Support for Employers

Businesses and organisations are increasingly becoming aware that domestic violence and abuse is an issue which directly impacts employees’ participation at work and the workplace itself. The cost of domestic abuse to companies can be considerable.

Upcoming training

Organisations with more than 150 employees are invited to learn about our Employer Response to Domestic Abuse training programme below. To discuss the programme further, please contact us through the enquiry form at the bottom of this page.

Thank you.

Recognising and Responding to Domestic Violence and Abuse in the Workplace

3rd December 2024

9.30am – 1pm

The facts around domestic abuse as a workplace issue are stark:

The fact that the workplace can potentially be the only safe place remaining for victims of domestic abuse really hit home.
– Participant Feedback

  • More than 1 in 3 (37%) working people surveyed across multiple industries and at varying levels of seniority have experienced domestic abuse. (Vodafone Foundation, 2019)
  • Almost all (94%) employees who are subjected to abuse report an impact on their work performance. (Vodafone Foundation, 2021)
  • Many women are prevented from working, forced to work part-time or take sick leave, or become ill, stressed, or lose confidence as a result of the abuse they are subjected to. Some will ultimately cease working. (Safe Ireland and NUIG, 2021)

What can I do as an employer?

Supportive employers and colleagues can save lives by providing a place of safety and solidarity, serving as a nexus to community services, and also identifying cases of violence.
– International Labour Organsiation

Addressing the issue of domestic abuse as an employer is not about taking on the role of a counsellor or support worker. Rather, it is about reducing the stigma that surrounds the issue and offering a supportive space to victims/survivors. In doing so, employers can be well placed to recruit and retain high-performing employees.

Employment has been shown to mitigate the impacts of domestic abuse. Participation in the workplace serves to improve affected employees’ financial situation, promote physical safety, increase self-esteem and social connectedness, and more. Women’s Aid can guide you in adopting simple measures which allow employees subjected to abuse to continue working and realise they do not have to endure the abuse alone.

Excellent training should be part of management training in all companies and industries to raise more awareness of this issue across our society and to help managers and employees better support vulnerable colleagues.
– Participant feedback

I want to support employee survivors of domestic abuse. Where do I start?

Women’s Aid offers the Employer Response to Domestic Abuse training package, a specialist service for employers. The package focuses on three areas – training, policy, and awareness – with the aim of creating a supportive, understanding, and safe workplace environment for victims/survivors of domestic violence and abuse.

The Employer Response to Domestic Abuse training package includes:

An interactive training programme designed for employees who may be in a position to facilitate or respond to disclosures of domestic abuse in the workplace (e.g. HR business partners and line managers) or who are in a decision-making capacity regarding the wider organisational response (e.g. board members, executive teams, etc.).

Framed around the 3 Rs – recognise, respond, and refer – this training will provide the foundational knowledge needed to safely and effectively respond to employees subjected to abuse.

Guided by international best practices, this workshop will give key stakeholders in your organisation the opportunity to identify and explore current and potential supports for mitigating the impacts of domestic violence in the workplace.

Participants will leave the workshop with a comprehensive domestic abuse policy framework and an agenda of actions to develop a well-rounded and informed system of support for employees.

This is a service we offer to organisations which have developed a domestic abuse policy (either finalised or in draft) and are looking for it to be reviewed.

A member of our team will complete a full review of the policy, followed by a meeting to address the feedback and respond to any queries you may have around the policy and integrating it effectively in the workplace.

Employees subjected to abuse are more likely to disclose to a colleague over a supervisor, HR representative, or other designated person. As such, this awareness event is designed for all employees in your organisation, to increase their awareness around domestic abuse and how to safely respond to it.

Taking the form of a webinar, a member of our team will deliver a presentation on the work of Women’s Aid, general awareness raising on the issue of domestic abuse and how it intersects with the workplace, and time for Q&A. The session may be recorded for later use on internal employer networks.

To create a supportive, domestic abuse-informed workplace culture across all levels of the organisation, we encourage employers to adopt all strands of the training package.

However, it is also possible to book some elements separately.

Additional training available:

Women’s Aid also offer Bystander Approach training, which is designed to support those who interact with customers or the public in business or community settings.

This training is primarily targeted at people who do not have a role to respond to DVA as professionals, but who nevertheless may notice an event or incident that indicates a woman may be at risk of violence or abuse.

The training is designed to enable people to notice an event, recognise why a person may be at risk, and how to safely respond.

Typically, companies who request this training are in the financial sector or the hospitality industry.

We are happy to discuss your bespoke domestic abuse training needs not covered by any of the previous categories.  Get in touch today using the enquiry form below.

Contact us today for more information