Victims of domestic violence may be more likely to stay employed when the workplace offers some type of support, according to a study conducted by a research team at the University of Kentucky.
“Working Women Making it Work: Intimate Partner Violence, Employment, Disclosure and Workplace Supports” is one of the first studies to look at the role of workplace policies in helping victims of domestic violence maintain employment. The study was presented in March at the International Work, Stress, and Health 2006 conference in Miami, and will be published in 2007 in a special issue of the Journal of Interpersonal Violence.
“Maintaining employment is very important to the employed victim, and to the employer, since turnover is very costly on both sides,” said Jennifer Swanberg, Ph.D., who led the study with her colleagues TK Logan, Ph.D. and Caroline Macke, MSW. “In our study, among women who told someone at work about the partner victimization, the use of workplace support initiatives that include flexible working hours, supervisor-approved workload modifications, and implementation of safeguards such as the screening telephone calls, may have helped then to remain employed.”
This is a big deal for employers interested in effectiveness of workplace practices to address domestic violence!
