Family violence and employment

Workplaces—our new communities?

15.3 Family violence is increasingly recognised as a significant and complex issue and one which is not simply a private or individual issue, but rather a systemic one arising from wider social, economic and cultural factors. Accordingly, effective measures to address family violence must operate in both the private and public spheres. This is particularly so in the context of employment, as the line between private and public—or family life and work—is increasingly unclear, ‘with the effects of one sphere positively or negatively influencing the other’.^[1] As one stakeholder in this Inquiry commented during a consultation, ‘workplaces are becoming our new communities and therefore they must be a place for change’.^[2]

15.4 Two thirds of Australian women who report violence by a current partner are in paid employment.^[3] The results of the National Domestic Violence and the Workplace Survey conducted in 2011 on behalf of the Australian Domestic and Family Violence Clearinghouse (ADFVC) emphasise the extent of the impact of family violence in an employment context. The survey found that, of those who reported experiencing family violence:

• nearly half the respondents reported that the violence affected their capacity to get to work—the major reason being physical injury or restraint; and
• in the last 12 months, 19% reported that family violence continued in the workplace, with 12% indicating it occurred in the form of abusive phone calls and emails, and 11% stating that it occurred by way of the violent person attending the workplace.^[4]

15.5 Similarly, research in the United States has indicated that between 50% and 74% of employed women experiencing family violence are harassed by their partners while at work.^[5] This illustrates the point made by lawyers John Stanton and Gordon Jervis that family violence ‘has no boundaries and doesn’t stop at the front door of the workplace’.^[6]

The effect on employees

15.6 Many people experiencing family violence face ongoing difficulties in gaining and retaining paid employment and in disclosing family violence where it may have an impact on their employment. For example, women who have experienced family violence generally have a more disrupted work history, receive lower incomes, and are often in casual and part-time employment.^[7]

15.7 Where people experiencing family violence are employed, family violence may arise in the workplace in one of three commonly identified categories of occupational violence: ‘internal’ violence; ‘client-initiated’ violence; or ‘external’ violence.^[8] Internal violence refers to violence between employees within the same organisation, for example where employees work together in a family business or where a majority of residents in a particular area are employed by the same organisation.^[9] Client-initiated and external violence largely occurs in client-service based organisations, for example banks and retail shops, that may provide ‘accessibility for partners or ex-partners to be targeted at their place of work’.^[10]

15.8 Within these categories, employees experiencing family violence may be affected by family violence in an employment context in numerous ways, including:

• by stalking or harassment at a place of work, or receipt of harassing telephone calls or emails;
• by having their work actively undermined as a result of having work property, such as paperwork or uniforms, hidden or destroyed;
• through facing difficulties attending work as a result of the person using family violence promising to mind children, then refusing to do so,^[11] physically preventing the victim from leaving the house, or preventing access to transport;^[12]
• where working from home, being prevented from work or facing interference; or
• in the case of someone using family violence, using work time or resources to facilitate violent behaviour.^[13]

15.9 There may also be broader consequences, including:

• sleep deprivation, stress and reduced concentration affecting relations with colleagues and work performance and safety;^[14]
• effects on co-workers, including increased workloads due to absenteeism or dealing with disruptions, such as harassing phone calls in the workplace;^[15] and
• in the most extreme cases, workplace family violence-related homicide.^[16]

15.10 As a result, family violence can have a significant effect on employees, co-workers and workplaces and, more broadly, workplace productivity and safety.

Benefits of employment for victims

15.11 Employment may afford victims of family violence a measure of financial security, independence, confidence and, therefore, safety. While some evidence suggests that victims of family violence may experience higher levels of abuse when they initially gain employment,^[17] employment is a key factor in enabling victims to leave violent relationships,^[18] providing longer-term benefits associated with financial security.^[19]

15.12 The importance of financial security and independence through employment has been emphasised by Elizabeth Broderick, the Sex Discrimination Commissioner:

The primary way the majority of us lay the foundations of our economic security is through participation in paid work. We must develop better workplace responses to domestic and family violence to ensure that women can stay attached to the workforce. Doing this will mean three things. Firstly, we will protect women’s financial security in the immediate term—women will be less likely to lose their job in a period of crisis. Secondly, if we can keep women attached to the labour market, we will better protect their economic security in the longer term—they will be less likely to live in poverty in their twilight years. But thirdly, and most importantly from an employer’s perspective, individual businesses will be better able to prevent the unnecessary loss of talented staff.^[20]

15.13 As a result, in considering safety in the context of employment law, the ALRC acknowledges the role that financial security and independence through paid employment can play in protecting people experiencing family violence.^[21]

Social and economic costs

15.14 In addition to the negative effects of family violence on employees and the positive effects of employment, family violence also generates an enormous economic and social cost, with broader implications for employers and the economy.

15.15 Family violence is projected to cost the Australian economy an estimated $15.6 billion in 2021–22.^[22] In 2004, it reportedly cost the corporate and business sectors over $1.5 billion through direct costs.^[23] Where family violence affects employees in the workplace, or leads to their leaving employment, individual employers face costs associated with:

• absenteeism—including administration costs;
• decreased productivity;
• recruitment following staff turnover—estimated as 150% of an employee’s salary annually;^[24] and
• training for new employees and loss of corporate knowledge.^[25]

15.16 The employment law system in Australia is premised on the need to provide a balanced framework that promotes labour market engagement, economic productivity and social inclusion. In light of the enormous social and economic costs of family violence, and the high proportion of people experiencing it who are employed, ensuring the employment law system appropriately identifies, responds to and addresses family violence, is central to achieving these aims.

Disclosure

15.17 People experiencing family violence may wish to disclose family violence to individuals and representatives within the employment law system—such as co-workers, human resources personnel, managers/supervisors, or union representatives—for many reasons, including:

• to ensure their experiences of family violence are considered in attempting to gain or retain employment;
• to alert them to the impact of family violence on their attendance or performance;
• to seek assistance or access to entitlements; or
• because of safety concerns.^[26]

15.18 As a result, workplaces have the potential to play a key role in supporting and protecting the safety of people experiencing family violence. However, victims may be reluctant to disclose family violence.

Barriers to disclosure

15.19 In the context of the employment law system, there are particular manifestations of the general barriers identified in Family Violence—A National Legal Response, ALRC Report 114 (2010) and in Chapter 1 of this Report, as well as a range of additional barriers.

15.20 Forty-five per cent of respondents to the ADFVC survey who indicated they had experienced family violence in the previous 12 months reported that they had discussed the violence with someone at work, but that they had disclosed to a work colleague or friend rather than supervisor, human resources representative or union representative.^[27]

15.21 Stakeholder responses to this Inquiry indicated a range of barriers, including that victims may be reluctant to disclose family violence because they fear such disclosure will jeopardise their job or career, they will be stigmatised, or that their employer will not be responsive.^[28] In particular, stakeholders suggested that employees fear that an ‘employer may lose confidence in the ability of the victim’,^[29] following disclosure of family violence. Stakeholders also emphasised that privacy concerns inhibit disclosure.^[30] The Australian Services Union, for example, emphasised the barrier presented by ‘lack of assuredness around privacy’.^[31]

15.22 Stakeholders also suggested that, in some cases, employees experiencing family violence consider work to be a ‘safe haven’ away from the violence and were therefore reluctant to disclose.^[32]

15.23 Organisational culture and its impact on disclosure was also discussed in some submissions and may go some way to explaining why disclosure is predominantly to a work colleague or friend, rather than management. For example, Women’s Health Victoria expressed the view that:

An organisational culture in which there exists a traditional gender divide, where women are not respected, and where there is widespread sexism, may not be one in which a victim of family violence would feel comfortable disclosing … In contrast, a workplace that is respectful and supportive of women, that also sends a clear message that family violence is not tolerated, will foster employee disclosure.^[33]

15.24 Employees from particular groups or communities may face additional barriers or have different concerns preventing disclosure of family violence.^[34] For example, an Indigenous person experiencing family violence may be reluctant to disclose it in a context where they work in an organisation with family or kin, or in a business in a small community.^[35] An employee who is a member of a same-sex couple, but who is not ‘out’ at work, may fear stigmatisation or discrimination on the basis of his or her sexuality, as well as experiences of family violence.^[36]

15.25 Addressing systemic social, economic and cultural factors perpetuating family violence is a principal way to reduce barriers to disclosure. The ALRC acknowledges the work done by the Australian Government in this respect, including in particular, the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children (the National Plan).^[37] In addition, the ALRC also considers that the introduction of national initiatives such as those outlined later in this chapter, ensuring systems identify and respond to disclosures of family violence, and that those experiencing family violence are protected, will assist in addressing barriers to disclosure within the employment law system.

Responding to disclosure

15.26 Where an employee discloses family violence in a workplace context there is a need to ensure that disclosure is dealt with sensitively and appropriately. In order to ensure this occurs, family violence-related measures as well as workplace instruments and policies must clearly outline the obligations and responsibilities of those to whom an employee has disclosed, and be tailored to meet the needs of individual workplaces and employees within those workplaces. The ALRC considers that information and guidance provided as part of the national education and awareness campaign will assist in ensuring sensitive and appropriate workplace responses.

15.27 The impact of disclosure of family violence as a trigger for risk assessment, a concern raised by some stakeholders, is a matter for particular workplaces to address in enterprise agreements, workplace policies or similar. Similarly, where the disclosure of family violence may affect particular groups of employees that is a matter for employer organisations, unions and workplaces to consider and respond to appropriately.^[38] Consideration of issues arising in relation to child protection reporting and the operation and impact of mandatory reporting provisions under the Domestic and Family Violence Act 2007 (NT) is beyond the Terms of Reference for this Inquiry.^[39]