HOW DOES DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AFFECT THE WORKPLACE?Domestic violence affects productivity and increases absenteeism:
24% of women between the ages of 18 and 65 have experienced domestic violence (EDK Associates, The Many Faces of Domestic Violence and its Impact on the Workplace, 1997). 74% of employed battered women were harassed by their partner while at work. This caused 56% of them to be late for work at least five times a month, 28% to leave early at least five days a month, and 54% to miss at least three full days of work a month. The total health care costs of family violence are estimated in the hundreds of millions each year, much of which is paid for by the employer. 44% of executives surveyed say that that domestic violence increases their health care costs (Pennsylvania Blue Shield Institute, Social Problems and Rising Health Care Costs in Pennsylvania, pp. 3-5, 1992). A 2005 phone survey of 1,200 full-time American employees found that 44 percent of full-time employed adults personally experienced domestic violence's effect in their workplaces, and 21 percent identified themselves as victims of intimate partner violence. Batterers also may be less productive or miss work because of violence, incarceration, or legal proceedings resulting from the violence. Results of a survey on the impact of domestic violence offenders on workplace safety and health revealed that perpetrators negatively affect workplace safety, productivity and are responsible for lost time:
78% use workplace resources at least once to express remorse or anger to, check up on, or threaten the victim. 74% has easy access to their intimate partner’s workplace, with 21% reporting that they contacted her at the workplace in violation of a no-contact order. 48% reported difficulty concentrating at work, with 19% reporting a workplace accident or near miss 42% of offenders were late for work. |
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