Courtney Cahill, Chief, Domestic Violence Unit, Bristol County D.A.’s Office, as well as President of Employers Against Domestic Violence, gave the keynote address at the White Ribbon Day Proclamation Breakfast 3-29-2022. She focused on the costly toll of domestic violence and the need for employer advocacy and support for survivors.

Learn more about it!

The Mission of Employers Against Domestic Violence is to build collaborative partnerships to address the issues of domestic violence in the workplace. The ultimate goal of EADV is to create more productive workplaces that are intolerant of domestic violence and are safe and supportive for victims and families.

• 1 in 3 women (about 33%) and 1 in 7 men will be subject to sever physical violence by an intimate partner in their lifetime. (Center for Disease Control and Prevention)

• If it is in your community then it is in your workplace

• How many females in your workplace??? How many maybe affected by DV?

• I see that the Brockton Public Schools are here today - I just want to touch on the effects on children- and I tell police officers this all the time in training- Children who witness DV growing up are:

• 6x more likely to commit suicide

• 50 x more likely to abuse drugs/alcohol

• 4 x more likely to commit a violent crime

• Back to the workplace

• The Institute for Women’s Policy Research estimates that the annual cost of lost productivity and health costs due to domestic violence equals between $5-$9 Billion.

• DV affects the workplace in 4 different ways. COST! COST! COST! COST!

• Human cost- tragedies that we see in the news all too frequently. Think about the effect it would have on your workplace if an employee/co-worker was murdered at home….. AND DV does come to the workplace as well. A study by 2/3rds of mass shooting (3 or more people shot) are domestic violence related. Think about that. This human cost is the most important cost that DV has on the workplace.

• Lost Productivity Cost- not only victim employee, co-workers and the abuser

• A victim may have -Workplace interruptions including conduct, ranging from harassing or repeated telephone calls/texts /emails, abuser stopping by to check to see if she is where she says she is, unable to work OT because she is expected home at a certain time and many other interruptions. -A batterer’s interference in the work place or work success of his target is one of many means by which the batterer exercises and displays his attempt to exert power and control.

• Physical and emotional health effects- Sleep deprivation and physical injuries (breaking fingers, etc...) which impact an individual’s ability to perform their job.

• Co-workers- how are they affected- they may lose their own productivity covering for a a co-worker, their own loss of concentration worrying for a co-worker

• Abusers and their productivity- study by EADV

• 75% of convicted batterers admitted to using work resources to commit crimes of domestic violence including stalking and threatening their partners

• 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.

• Increased heath care coverage Each year, domestic violence results in nearly 100,000 days of hospitalization, 30,000 emergency room visits and 40,000 physician visits (American Medical Association, 1991).

• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that the costs of direct medical and mental health care services related to intimate partner violence total nearly $4.1 billion a year

• Final cost is Cost of increased turnover = $$$ spent on training new hires- think about how much goes in to training new employees, if we don’t support them and lose them then the employer is facing the cost of training a new hire….

• One study asking victims how DV affected their work-

• 83% of women said that abusive partners hindered their ability to work

• 70% of these women were not able to have jobs

• 53% said they lost their jobs because of the abuse

• An independent source of income is the ingle most significant indicator that a woman will be able to permanently leave an abuser.

We as employers have to address DV and its affects in the workplace.

current laws in MA protecting DV victims at work- important for police to know- Stoughton PD here- victims don’t think they can take time off for court

2014 the Legislature passed a law MGL 149 sec 52E- Giving victims and their families enhanced rights in the workplace. POSTERS!!!!

• 50 or more employees

• Employee or family member is a victim

• 15 additional days of leave-decision to pay lies with employer

• Employer may require documentation for absence

• Confidentiality provisions

• Employer cannot terminate/discriminate an employee who uses this policy

• Who does this cover- Employers with 50 plus employees- employees =individuals who perform services for and under the control or direction of an employer for wages or other remuneration

• Family member includes –married, dating, live together, child in common parent/step parent/child/sibling/grandparent/grandchild/guardians

• Notice- appropriate advance notice unless there is a threat of imminent danger no notice prior, but need to give notice within 5 days- notice can be given by employee, family member, counselor etc.

• Documentation- NO requirement for arrest

• Can document with a RO, a police report, docket with conviction, medical documentation, sworn statement signed by a counselor clergy, anyone assisting victim, sworn statement by Victim

• This paperwork can only stay in employees file until employer makes determination of that specific day off request