You want what’s best for your business, workplace AND your employees.

What happens when one of your employees is suffering privately with domestic violence?

Although we sometimes think of domestic violence as a private and personal issue, it does not stop when your employees or co-workers come to work.  The reality is, domestic violence can have real financial impacts on a business and affect work place morale.

Financial and morale impacts on the workplace; victims of domestic violence:

May need time off due to injury, for counselling or for legal purposes.

May experience a drop in productivity.

Their attention may be focused elsewhere.

May experience post traumatic stress.

May require time to find new living arrangements or settle children into new schools.

Victims of domestic violence have their lives turned upside down and inside out as they deal with issues of violence and seek to change their circumstances.

Your work place may also experience disruption due domestic violence because:

Perpetrators may come to the workplace causing disruption.

Local law enforcement may become involved and attend at your place of business.

Victim’s co-workers may be harassed or may be called to give testimony.

OPEN TALK is a campaign to ensure your workplace is a safe and supportive environment for you and your employees. If you, an employee or a co-worker encounter a domestic violence situation and don’t know what to do, this website can help.

It’s not your job as an employer to fix it… It is your job to:

*validate the situation, listen, support and guide your employees to seek assistance.

There are many organizations in your community that can help you and your employee. Click on the community resources section of this website for more information and contacts.

PLEASE NOTE

We understand employers are restricted from asking employees certain questions and unable to request information of a personal nature, however, employers can display information about issues such as domestic violence and they can remind staff of services available through employee benefit packages and within the community.