Support for Male Employees

To be clear, it’s not for employers to ‘solve’ the problem, but to enable their employees to access professional support, ideally from a local specialist domestic abuse service provider like Next Chapter, but this could also be access to legal advice, financial advice, housing support, counselling or even arranging childcare. Someone’s circumstances can change very quickly, with their whole life turned upside down – having a supportive employer can make an unparalleled difference to them and their family.

• Key recommendations
• Develop a domestic abuse policy and create an effective framework around domestic abuse support.
• Employers have a duty of care for the health, safety and wellbeing of their staff and are in a strong position to create a safe and supportive workplace environment.
• Think about the safety/security measures that may be required.
• Treat everyone as an individual as everyone’s situation will be different. It’s important not to make assumptions about what someone is experiencing or what they need, or the gender of the perpetrator.
• Respect and accept the victim’s thoughts and ideas on the way forward outside work; the victim will know best how the perpetrator may react.
• Create open work cultures that help to break the silence around this important issue and ensure people know that the organisation will support people experiencing domestic abuse to seek help.
• Offer flexibility to enable people to attend counselling, legal and finance appointments, get support from professional organisations and make arrangements, for example concerning childcare and housing.
• Outline people’s different roles and responsibilities when it comes to supporting employees experiencing domestic abuse.
  

Next Chapter are here to provide support to any individual experiencing domestic abuse and we would welcome working in partnership with any employer to help build a safety plan that includes actions that can be taken in the workplace to keep their member of staff safe.

Alpha Vesta provide expert advice and support to organisations whether they are just starting out exploring the issue or are looking to further develop their organisational support and staff skills. They encourage and support all workplaces to build a strong culture of understanding around domestic abuse and a supportive environment for those affected.

Domestic abuse doesn’t always look like you think it’s going to look like, and Alpha Vesta support employers and employees to recognise the signs and respond effectively within the workplace.  This benefits the employer and employees but also customers, clients and service users that come into contact with them through their work.

Please do reach out to them to see how they could help you support your staff when they need you most.

How we can help

Our specialist Next Chapter Duty team can offer practical advice if an employee has expressed difficulty with domestic abuse.

You can email info@thenextchapter.org.uk or call our team on: 01206 500585

You can also contact Essex Compass on: 0330 3337 444.

In an emergency, call 999.