When you consider that 1 in 4 women will experience domestic violence in their lives, there may be women in your workplace who are living with it. It might not be visible or obvious, but can affect work in a number of ways such as late arrivals, emotional distress, stress, absenteeism, lack of concentration and depression. The cost to an organisation can be high: UK figures suggest up to millions of pounds in lost productivity. Some employers may feel uncomfortable becoming involved in an employee’s private life, but you can help in a number of ways:

• Find out about local services, such as the Refuge, and display leaflets and posters.
• Offer your workplace as a safe place for Refuge Outreach workers to meet your employee to discuss their options. If this is not practical, offer them the information that Outreach workers can meet with them in the community for support.
• You can develop and put in place a domestic violence policy for your workplace.
• You could consider raising domestic violence in any performance reviews where absenteeism or poor performance is an issue.
• You can support the Refuge by donating! Click here to donate