Brandy L. Gold, a psychotherapist in New York, recently reviewed the FVPF data. Her private practice has a heavy flavor of domestic violence: 65 percent of her patients are directly affected by the abuse of their partners (either physical or severe emotional), and 100 percent of those individuals are gainfully employed.

Effects of domestic violence

"Each of these patients describes a pervasive sense of shame, embarrassment, and isolation. They seek outside counseling in a private attempt to feel heard, supported, and at times, just believed," Gold says.

She finds domestic violence does not discriminate by age, as her patients range from ages 18 to 66. Those who live in a house where abuse exists -- of the child, spouse, or parent -- have a common thread, Gold states. They often feel that they must hide their secret because they would be punished or judged, especially by employers.

Thus, they overcompensate in the workplace by coming to work early, staying late, working weekends -- all in an attempt to "look good," but more importantly, to have a safe haven that recreates a better home life at work.

The problem for HR is that without knowledge of the home situation, these employees can be at risk in the workplace. Jealous partners can experience a threatening sense of competition with their mate's co-workers and, unbeknownst to employees, become a target of retaliation.

Beatings have caused women to be late or absent from their jobs, Gold notes, or that their hands have hurt so much they have not been able to use a computer. Others have told her that, after defending themselves late into the night, they cannot drag themselves out of bed to be able to get to work on time.

When the victim can no longer take it

Gold recounts one instance when she was called to a business the day after a major incident had occurred.

An employee's husband, after serving time in jail for what HR thought was a drug-related crime, was about to be released on parole. She had told her HR representative that she had been looking forward to getting him back, as he had successfully completed a drug rehabilitation program during his four years in prison. He had been a model prisoner, earned his high school equivalency diploma, and had reestablished contact with their children. Now a born-again Christian, he was bringing his new faith home to his family.

The night before he was to be released, however, the employee waited until everyone but one other employee had left. She locked the door, threatened to kill the other employee, and then sat with the gun pointed into her mouth. The other employee was able to get free and call the police; the police eventually subdued her after hours of negotiations.

Much trauma

Gold was called in to discuss the incident with the other employees. "It turned out that the employee was a victim of domestic violence," she says. "The husband had turned on her, accusing her of having a lesbian affair with a woman at work; that woman at work had, the night before, listened to the troubled employee's death threats."

Thus, as a result of domestic violence years earlier, an employee disrupted a workplace to the extent that virtually no work was done for the next two to three weeks. People were so traumatized after the "hostage situation" was shown on television that they no longer wanted to work with the company. The woman who was threatened was so ashamed, even though there had been no affair and no "wrongdoing," she started coming late to work, and when she was there, could not focus on her job.

A chain of effects

As the social worker in this situation, Gold comments, counseling was required on many levels:

Management: "The key employees had to learn that this was not an isolated incident that could be ignored," Gold says. "This time, they were trying to contain future problems stemming from a woman with a gun. Next time it could be the abusive spouse coming to 'straighten things out.' "

Human resources: "Unfortunately or fortunately, this was one of the instances where a bad situation had to be looked at as an opportunity," Gold says. HR gained ammunition to show management how workshops and educational seminars should be put in place to allow victims of domestic violence a process to feel safe and secure in the workplace. By working with outside consultants, this company held a series of "work-life" workshops where domestic violence was not the sole focus.

Employees: Traumatized employees changed the work environment at this company, probably forever. The turnover rate tripled, and did not return to normal for over four years. The ability to attract new employees was met by, "Oh, you're the place where the woman went postal."

Finance: Labor costs soared. Gold describes how surprised the entire company was by the hit the bottom line took: "With the turnover rate out of control, and the ability to attract new employees virtually nonexistent, management tried increasing both compensation and benefits. Consultants were called in to discuss a possible name change, a public relations campaign, and an advertising campaign."

The business finally decided, rather than sweep the problem under the rug, to become a leader in the community regarding domestic violence issues. Convinced that the truth is the best possible release for the employees, an internal campaign was designed to bring domestic violence issues to light. The business held small fundraisers for the local battered women's shelter -- a gala, black-tie event made enough money to add a kitchen to the shelter.

Positive steps to take

"I don't want to paint a rosy picture," Gold emphasizes. "All the planning in the world may not keep domestic violence out of the workplace. There are, however, a number of positive steps that should be taken to bring the reality of what's 'out there' to the world of what's 'in here.' "

She agrees with the Family Violence Prevention Fund's suggestions that are designed to "mitigate the economic, legal, health and safety, and productivity risks of domestic violence." Some of the more important suggestions include:

Training managers so that they can recognize signs of domestic violence;

Ensuring a secured workplace by installing safety measures that protect victims (e.g., providing employees with photographs of batterers);

Using employee assistance programs as a means for employees to have someone to talk with privately; and

Designing leave and benefit programs to facilitate a battered individual's seeking help. Recognizing the implications domestic violence can have on the workplace is just the beginning. By implementing these types of policies and procedures, HR and senior management can help to ensure they employ healthier, more productive workers and create a safer workplace.

This article is courtesy of HRWire. All rights reserved.

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