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DOMESTIC ABUSE CAN HAVE SERIOUS REPERCUSSIONS IN THE WORKPLACE. HERE'S HOW SOME EMPLOYERS ARE TACKLING THE PROBLEM.
Historically, domestic abuse has been considered a private issue-not a workplace issue-so few organizations have wanted to get involved.
Employers have often cited a bevy of reasons for not getting involved in domestic abuse: It's risky. It's no one else's business. It's hard to distinguish whether it's actually abuse. It's a lose/lose situation. Today, however, corporate America has come to view domestic abuse as a workforce issue-one that warrants serious attention.
THE EXTENT OF THE PROBLEM
Nearly 4 million American women are abused every year. According to a survey conducted jointly by the YWCA of the USA and The Body Shop, one in four American women between the ages of 18 and 65 has experienced some form of domestic abuse.
This violence affects the workplace in some very concrete and definite ways-ways that employers are becoming more and more aware of. For example
It is estimated that victims of domestic abuse miss 175,000 days of paid work annually.
The Bureau of National Affairs estimated in 1990 that domestic violence was costing employers $3 to $5 billion a year in reduced productivity, health care costs and absenteeism.
Thirty-seven percent of victims say domestic abuse affects their work performance in terms of tardiness, absenteeism, difficulty keeping a job and/or being considered for promotion, according to the YWCA/Body Shop survey.
As compelling as these statistics are, there is an even greater threat that employers face from domestic abuse: a spillover of violence into the workplace. Such violence may be much less rare than employers believe. According to the Family Violence Prevention Fund, 74 percent of employed battered women were harassed at work.
Fortunately, corporate America is taking note of these statistics. Employers are setting up programs and joining forces with community activists to find ways to help alleviate the problem.
THE ONSET OF CHANGE
"We became involved in the issue originally in 1984 when an employee who had been with us for 15 years was late for work on several occasions," says Jim Hardeman, corporate employee assistance program (EAP) manager for Polaroid Corporation.
"She had received an oral warning and a written warning and was on the verge of being fired....