Domestic Abuse Policies in Irish Workplaces - Work Well Live @ Grant Thornton
Our most recent Work Well Live gathering took place at Grant Thornton’s HQ in Dublin’s Docklands and our discussion focused on Domestic Abuse Policies in Irish Workplaces. Our panel highlighted the legal aspect, the practical policy perspective and a very personal story. Grant Thornton launched their Domestic Abuse Policy on the day with Aoife Hennessy sharing details of the policy with those in attendance. A huge thanks to Sinead and the entire Grant Thornton team for hosting us and giving us a platform to discuss this really important topic.
Panel Discussion
Eve Wickham spoke from the heart, sharing her story of how work was a refuge while she was suffering with domestic abuse. As regards the policy she said ‘if it saves one life’, ‘if it encourages one person to take action’ then the policy will have worked. I don’t think anyone can express it any better than Eve did, thank you Eve.
Lorraine O'Carroll, Director of Human Resources at Grant Thornton, concurred. The newly launched policy isn’t something HR will be measuring and monitoring. Confidentiality is key and Lorraine provided examples of how privacy will be maintained if a disclosure is made. If only one person engages with the policy then that will be seen as a success. Lorraine also described how organisations like Vodafone influenced Grant Thornton’s policy with their own policy in this space which launched in 2019 (details below).
Catherine O'Flynn, Head of Employment & Benefits at William Fry, highlighted how timely our discussion was given that domestic violence leave is formally being introduced into legislation this week. Catherine discussed the 4 R’s as a guide for people in organisation’s - Recognise, Respond, Refer and Respect and she also encouraged us to familiarise ourselves with the new legislation specifically Section 7 of the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2023.
Statement from Minister Roderic O’Gorman, Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration & Youth
The minister had hoped to attend but was unable to due to a clash of diary commitments but he did send us the following message.
‘I’m very pleased that the right to seek paid Domestic Violence Leave will apply from next Monday. I see it as an important step in supporting victims to continue with their work lives while they seek help. Ireland will be one of the first countries in the EU to adopt these provisions. I am pleased that we are providing the paid leave at the full rate of an individual’s pay, recognising the heightened risk of poverty that those facing DSGBV (Domestic, Sexual & Gender Based Violence Services) experience. I’m grateful to Women’s Aid for their support in terms of drafting workplace policies that can facilitate this leave and guide wider engagement between employers and their employees on issues of domestic violence.’
Message from Women’s Aid
Women’s Aid have been awarded the DCEDIY (Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth) contract to roll out training to organisations on the new Domestic Violence leave.
You can register for an employee webinar if you haven’t done so already on the website DV at Work. This link also includes a policy template and guidance note.
Policy Examples
We referred to two organisations during the session that have published policies in the area of domestic abuse and we share links to them here in addition to Grant Thornton’s newly launched policy in the hope that they may support your own internal policy.
Grant Thornton: Domestic Abuse Policy
Vodafone Ireland: Toolkit on domestic violence and abuse at work: Recognise, respond and refer.
Civil Service: Domestic Violence and Abuse Policy & Supports
Every organisation should have a policy in this space so please share these details far and wide.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Brian Crooke is a wellbeing educator, speaker and adviser, empowering Irish organisations to promote and sustain wellbeing within their workplaces.
He is the founder of The Work Well Institute and the Workplace Wellbeing Ireland community and is Course Director of the Postgraduate Certificate in Workplace Wellness at Tangent, Trinity College Dublin. He is the host of The Work Well Podcast.
In his spare time, Brian is bringing free resistance training to every county and community in Ireland through his parkHIIT social enterprise.
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