The impact of domestic violence on the workplace

Abstract

This study explored the impact of domestic violence on absenteeism, worker productivity, and workplace responses to domestic violence, based on a survey of New Zealand employees. One thousand six hundred and thirty-eight (1638) completed questionnaires were returned, 249 from respondents who had direct experience of domestic violence. The majority of respondents were women. Domestic violence affected over a third of respondents’ ability to get to work and their work performance. The opportunity to discuss the violence with someone at work resulted in positive outcomes. The study suggests that raising awareness of domestic violence as a workplace issue and developing appropriate legislation and workplace policies and practices would potentially benefit both workers and the employers.