Since March last year, millions of employees now consider their home to be their workplace. This unprecedented shift to homeworking, caused directly by the COVID-19 pandemic, has sparked many conversations about the challenges this creates in terms of employees' welfare and wellbeing. One of the most serious and alarming challenges faced by millions of people in the UK has been the increased prevalence of domestic abuse.

For many sufferers of domestic abuse, having a job and going into work can offer a degree of independence and separation from the abuser. Unfortunately, as a result of the COVID-19 restrictions, the ability to spend time away from perpetrators of domestic abuse has been significantly impacted – many individuals are no longer able to leave home and go into the workplace.

In response, the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) undertook a review to examine how victims of domestic abuse can be supported in the workplace.

Overview

The BEIS report is divided into three chapters:

1. Building an awareness and understanding of domestic abuse amongst employers.
2. Extending support in the workplace.
3. Employment rights in light of domestic abuse.

We summarise a few key practical points from each chapter below.

Awareness and understanding

The report highlights the importance of raising awareness and understanding in the workplace of domestic abuse. It can be difficult for employers and colleagues to spot the signs of domestic abuse – it is often described as a "hidden crime". For example, some controlling behaviours, such as someone's partner driving them to and from work every day, may not raise alarm bells as it could be perceived by colleagues as loving and caring behaviour.

In addition, individuals may not realise that what they are experiencing is domestic abuse or may not feel able to speak about it. The review found that one of the most prevalent forms of domestic abuse is sabotaging the victim’s employment and career, which means that domestic abuse often extends to work itself. As mentioned above, the independence that a job provides can be vitally important to sufferers of abuse.

The report highlights the key role that businesses and representative organisations, such as trade unions, can play in working together with charities with expertise in identifying, understanding and responding to domestic abuse.

Support

The report also found that, even though a growing number of employers are offering support initiatives, there are still significant barriers to accessing this support. This can be because individuals are not aware of the existing support or they may simply not feel comfortable disclosing that they are being abused.

It was noted that there is a lack of recognition of diversity in the victims themselves, and how a person may have multiple characteristics that make coming forward all the more difficult. In addition, stereotypical representations of domestic abuse victims can make it more difficult for individuals to identify themselves as victims.

The clear response in the report was that organisations should, wherever possible, have a policy on domestic abuse that is visible across the organisation and which is embedded in the wider organisational culture and practices.

The report notes there is value in employers working closely with trade unions and specialist organisations in shaping the policy and that a comprehensive policy should set out:

• signs of abuse;
• roles and responsibilities;
• education and training;
• safety in the workplace; and
• practical support.

Practical support includes paying salaries into separate accounts; additional financial assistance; access to counselling or other health-related services; access to time and space within work to make calls and other arrangements, as well as flexibility and time out of work. Safety in the workplace could cover measures such as informing security, providing safe parking spaces, accompanying employees to public transport and ensuring that information about the employees’ whereabouts is not accessible.

Employment rights

The report concluded that there are unmet needs within the current employment rights framework, particularly in relation to flexibility and time out of work, for individuals dealing with domestic abuse. For example, it is acknowledged that victims can face challenges in balancing work and dealing with the consequences of abuse. During certain periods, they might use their annual leave entitlement to engage with a range of services such as the police, courts, banks, schools and social services, as well as moving home or finding refuge accommodation. The report highlights that victims may need more ad hoc flexibility given to them by their employer to help manage these appointments.

The report also scrutinises the existing right to request flexible working, which requires an employee to have worked with their employer for 26 weeks and allows an employer up to three months to respond. In addition, it highlights an employer’s duty of care which may, in certain circumstances, extend to protecting employees from the wrongful acts of third parties. The report also considers that this duty may go further than an employer's legal obligations and there are ethical and moral considerations for employers who become aware that one of their employees is suffering from domestic abuse.