Should Employers Protect Workers From Domestic Violence?

While many consider domestic violence to be a private matter, abusers often turn up at victims' workplaces. But companies have the power to stop them.

Rebecca Cheptegei was at the pinnacle of her career when she represented Uganda in the 2024 Olympics. But when the 33-year old marathon champion returned home to Kenya, she was murdered by her ex-boyfriend. The horrific details were splashed across international headlines: that he went to her home, argued with her, doused her body with gasoline, and set her on fire. But one small detail got lost amid the bigger ones: the fight centered on a house and land Cheptegei bought near Kenya’s elite athletic center to continue her training. The argument was about her success. 

A woman or girl around the world is killed by domestic violence every 11 minutes, according to the United Nations—and the victim’s career is often the trigger for the abuser in the relationship.  In the U.S., 83 percent of domestic violence victims face disruption at work because of their abuser: They miss work days. They receive harassing phone calls and texts. Their abuser shows up at their workplace. And these are just some of the tactics abusers use to intimidate their victims. 

Despite the prevalence of domestic violence seeping into work life, few companies—by some accounts, only 35 percent—have formal policies to protect workers going through it. That needs to change. An employer’s lack of safety protocol for enforcing protective orders leaves millions of workers vulnerable—including the victim and their colleagues. The Biden-Harris administration recently announced a promising development: the renewal of a record $1.4 million in grants to support community organizations which “prevent and respond to gender-based violence and harassment against underserved and marginalized women workers.” Companies need to follow the administration’s lead and focus on domestic violence as a workplace issue by adopting their own policies to protect their employees. 

Centuries of laws have created a culture where domestic violence is an issue confined to the home. Even in the first legal case on domestic violence in the U.S., the Mississippi Supreme Court opined that husbands were allowed to beat their wives “without being subjected to vexatious prosecutions.” That 1824 decision played a pivotal role in framing domestic violence as a family matter where courts should not intervene unless it is deemed severe. 

Today, domestic violence is still perceived as a private matter, yet, according to the Department of Labor, it accounts for 27 percent of all violence that occurs in the workplace. One study between 2003 to 2008 found that more than half of workplace homicides due to domestic violence occurred in the parking lot or building where the victim was employed. 

When I was in college, I took a training session at a domestic violence shelter in Poughkeepsie, NY, prior to launching an initiative to teach English to its residents. Before the first class, the shelter’s director implored the attendees not to reveal the location of the shelter to anyone—including the cab driver. As we stood inside an inconspicuous building with vague signage, the director explained that divulging the location to even one person in a small town could result in danger. She taught me that abusers track technological devices like computers and phones, and often search for the victim’s name on company websites to find their new workplace.  

At the workshop, the shelter director also explained the way abusers enmeshed themselves into their victim’s workplace: They’d intentionally charm their co-workers so they could glean information. This isn’t the person you suspect of being the “bad guy” when watching Law and Order. They could be a colleague’s charismatic spouse who calls the office to ask, “Is Jenny there?” And few, if any, employees are aware that Jenny secured a protective order. As the shelter director said, “Information is power” and revealing it freely could lead to harm. 

Training staff on protocols for domestic violence situations could be a game changer but the most recent survey, which is from over a decade ago, found that only 20 percent of workplaces offer such training. When managers and leaders are not equipped to understand how domestic violence shows up in their workplaces, they turn on the victim instead of helping them.  One 2005 report revealed that 27 percent of domestic violence victims lose their jobs on account of issues stemming from the abuse such as harassing phone calls and tardiness. Instead of companies protecting their employees experiencing domestic violence; they’re disciplining or even firing them.

This happened to Sarbjit Saran, 58, who was desperately trying to escape her abusive marriage. Since her husband had been monitoring her personal cell phone, she used her work phone to store pictures of her bruised body along with detailed notes of the abuse. When Saran’s husband discovered this, he ratted her out to her employer, telling them that she was using her work phone for personal use. The agency confiscated her phone and disciplined Saran, even as she explained she had to use it because she was in an abusive situation. That was the only time in her 33 years at the agency that Saran had ever been disciplined. 

Saran lived in New York, a state with explicit workplace protections for domestic violence victims, and she worked for a New York government agency, which one would expect to adequately address Saran’s plea for help. But the managers failed to take action, and the following year, Saran’s husband murdered her.  

What can employers do to protect workers who are dealing with domestic violence? The most important first step is to devise an internal policy that guides employees. Workplaces can create a protocol on what to do when someone calls asking about an employee or confirm whether someone works at the establishment. For example, an opt-out option allows employees to choose not to be listed in public directories or on the company website for safety reasons. 

Once an employee discloses they are facing harassment, stalking, violence, or abuse, workplaces should have a process to review and change the employee’s emergency contact (since that person may be their abuser). To further protect the victim and all employees, the workplace can provide the abuser’s photo and other identifying information to building security so that they are not granted access to the premises. 

Workplaces should offer an annual training on domestic violence to all of its employees, not just Human Resources personnel. In 2020, researchers created an online chat function, a 2020 research project “through which visitors anonymously can ask professionals with social services or psychology backgrounds questions about the health of their own relationships, or of the relationships of people they know for advice on how to provide help.” They found that 10 percent of colleagues and 54 percent of friends of the victim contacted this online chat function. Colleagues who want to help often do not know how to do so.

Perhaps most importantly, employers should allow time off for workers who are dealing with domestic violence—that includes giving the employee leave to attend court appearances, doctor’s appointments, and any other accommodations. I spent 12 years as a tenants’ rights attorney and represented several domestic violence victims who were facing eviction due to the abuse. These cases can be emotionally draining because the victim is fighting for their right to survive. Not appearing in court might lead to being evicted from their home. In one of my cases, a landlord framed the abuse my client endured as “commotion and disturbances to the property.” Imagine fighting to keep a roof over your head and hearing these dehumanizing comments about your abuse in open court. Now imagine having to return to the workplace after that. A solid workplace protocol recognizes that domestic violence strips away the victim’s humanity—part of protecting that worker involves providing accommodations to allow them to do their best work given the circumstances.  

Does your workplace have a domestic violence policy or protocol? I’ve worked in various social justice organizations over the last 20 years and even there—in the most progressive workplaces—it was uncommon to have a domestic violence office policy. That’s why the Biden-Harris initiative is significant. It marks a shift in the way we talk about domestic violence. I’m hopeful that change will lead to a world where employers understand and learn how to protect their employees who are dealing with domestic violence.