Domestic Violence Leave – In summary:
- An additional 5 days per year special paid leave for those experiencing domestic violence has been negotiated, in addition to existing leave entitlements;
- There is now a facility to use one’s accrued carer’s leave entitlement to support a member of immediate family or household who is a victim of domestic violence.
- Insert definition of “immediate family”.
1.3.9 Definitions
“Immediate family” is defined in Section 12 of the Fair Work Act 2009 and means, for the purposes of this Agreement:
(a) A spouse (or former spouse), de facto partner, child, parent, grandparent, grandchild or sibling of the employee; or
(b) A child, parent, grandparent, grandchild or sibling of a spouse (or former spouse) or de facto partner of the employee.
An employee, who is experiencing domestic violence, will have access to five (5) days per year non-cumulative of paid special leave in order to address related matters including, but not limited to:
(a) attending medical and / or counselling appointments;
(b) sourcing alternative accommodation;
(c) accessing legal advice;
(d) attending legal proceedings;
(e) organising alternative care for members of their immediate family or household;
(f) organising alternative education arrangements for their children;
(g) rebuilding support networks; and
(h) other issues related to the domestic violence.
This leave will be in addition to existing leave entitlements and may be taken as consecutive or single days or as a fraction of a day and all reasonable requests will be approved.
Employees can also access existing leave entitlements for the abovementioned purposes, without the usual notice requirements.
It is not mandatory for the employee to have exhausted other forms of paid leave prior to accessing this special leave.
An employee who supports a person experiencing domestic violence may use their existing carer’s leave to accompany the person on activities related to that personal crisis, or to mind the children of the person to enable them to undertake activities related to such significant matter.
This sub-clause applies only where an employee supports a person who is a member of their immediate family (as defined in clause 1.3.9 of this Agreement) or household.
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND WORK
1. What should we be trying to negotiate in replacement Agreements?
Members should be encouraged to bargain for a specific industrial provision to support and protect workers who are experiencing domestic violence.
This suggested exemplar industrial provision identifies some positive workplace considerations that will assist workers who are experiencing domestic violence to ensure their employment relationship is not adversely affected (and subsequently, their financial security), provide reasonable and necessary adjustments to work organisational/operational arrangements and paid leave to attend medical or court appointments and other issues attributable to the domestic violence.
XX. DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
XX.1 Definition of Domestic Violence
(a) For the purpose of this Agreement, domestic violence includes acts or threats of violence committed by a current or former spouse of the victim, by a person with whom the victim shares a child in common, by a person who is cohabitating with or has cohabitated with the victim, by a person who is or has been in a continuing social relationship of a romantic or intimate nature with the victim, by a person who is or has continually or at regular intervals lived in the same household as the victim, or by a family member.
Violence may be characterised by:
(i) physical or sexual abuse;
(ii) emotional or psychological abuse; or
(iii) economic abuse.
(b) Proof of domestic violence may be required and can be in the form an agreed document issued by
(i) the Police Service;
(ii) a Court;
(iii) a Doctor;
(iv) a Domestic Violence Support Service or accredited counsellor; or
(v) a Lawyer.
XX.2 Measures
(a) No adverse action will be taken against an employee on the basis of domestic violence victim status or if their attendance or performance at work suffers as a result of experiencing domestic violence.
(b) All personal information concerning domestic violence will be kept confidential in line with the Employer’s Policy and relevant legislation. No information will be kept on an employee’s personnel file without their written permission.
(c) The employer will identify a contact who will be trained in domestic violence, discretion and privacy issues. The contact will be in possession of appropriate resources and referral information. The employer will advertise the name of the contact within the workplace and provide the details at induction for new staff.
(d) The employer will work collaboratively with the employee who is experiencing domestic violence to develop protocols to restrict access to the employee’s personal information and contact details.
(e) The employer will approve any reasonable request from an employee experiencing domestic violence for:
(i) changes to their span of hours or pattern or hours and/or shift patterns;
(ii) job redesign or changes to duties;
(iii) relocation to suitable employment within the workplace;
(iv) changes to communication and technological processes and/or access to avoid harassing contact (which may include telephone number, email address, website content and other technology-based public forums or social media);
(v) a change to parking and/or transport arrangements;
(vi) any other appropriate measure including those available under existing provisions for family friendly and flexible work arrangements.
XX.3 Leave
(a) An employee experiencing domestic violence will have access to 10 days per year of paid special leave for medical appointments, sourcing alternative accommodation, legal proceedings and other issues related to domestic violence. This leave will be in addition to existing leave entitlements and may be taken as consecutive or single days or as a fraction of a day and all reasonable requests will be approved. Employees can also access existing leave entitlements for the abovementioned purposes, without the usual notice requirements.
(b) An employee who supports a person experiencing domestic violence may use their existing carer’s leave to accompany the person on activities related to the domestic violence, or to mind the children of the person.
2. What do our Agreements say right now?
There are currently no provisions in Queensland and Northern Territory non-government schools’ Agreements that provide assistance and protection for workers experiencing domestic violence.
3. What does the law say?
There are laws in all Australian states and territories that address violence. However, there are minimal laws that address the effects of violence. The Australian Government has developed an Action Plan that acknowledges that financial security and employment are vital for victims and survivors of domestic violence to minimize the effects of the violence.
While Australia has no laws specifically addressing unfair treatment of victims and survivors of domestic violence, a number of other nations have enacted protections in their laws, including the USA, the Philippines and Spain, among other countries.
4. What has the union movement done so far?
September 2010
The Australian Services Union (ASU) negotiated a landmark agreement with the Surf Coast Shire, Victoria, providing up to twenty days of paid leave for workers affected by domestic violence.
November 2010
Toowoomba-based Heritage Building Society introduced up to twenty days paid leave per calendar year as part of its new domestic support leave policy.
December 2010
Since December, the ASU has secured clauses in agreements with Brimbank City Council and the Shire of Moyne, and included them in a memorandum of understanding with Moonee Valley City Council in Victoria.
Fair Work Australia approved the University of New South Wales (Professional Staff) Enterprise Agreement 2010, which includes a domestic violence clause.
February 2011
The New South Wales Crown Employees (Public Service Conditions of Employment) Award 2009 was varied to include domestic violence clauses. Since February, a further eighteen awards have been varied in the New South Wales Industrial Relations Commission.
A circular from the Director General of the New South Wales Department of Premier and Cabinet strongly encouraged other public sector agencies and state owned corporations to adopt the domestic violence provisions in their industrial agreements.
May 2011
TransGrid became the first private sector employer to include a domestic violence clause in its enterprise agreement.
August 2011
While other matters in the Agreement are still being negotiated, the ASU and QLD Rail have agreed to include unlimited domestic violence leave for employees experiencing domestic violence.
5. Why is domestic violence a workplace issue?
Domestic violence can impact on the workplace and the employment relationship through increased absenteeism due to injury, sickness, stress, court attendance and other factors. It can limit a worker’s ability to perform effectively, which may result in performance management scenarios, terminations and forced resignations (Australia's CEO Challenge 2010).
The following real-life scenarios depict the effects domestic violence can have on a worker:
Anne
Anne was employed at a regional hotel for twelve months as a casual food and beverage attendant. The employer had, via the organisation’s counselor (who had spoken with Anne), been made aware that Anne was living with an abusive partner and was subject to domestic violence. The employer offered Anne a transfer to another location for work, on the condition that she left her abusive partner. The employer advised Anne that should she fail to provide a written statement advising that she would leave her partner, the transfer offer would be withdrawn.
Jane
Jane was a casual employee who had taken out a Domestic Violence Order against her ex-husband and had been working regular and systematic hours for eight months in the retail sector. On Christmas Eve, her ex-husband came into work and started yelling at her. After the incident, her employer advised her to take three weeks of unpaid leave. When Jane attempted to return to work, her employer advised that he had terminated her employment, stating that he owed the clients of the business a duty of care.
Note: the above scenarios are from the Queensland Working Women’s Service’s paper, Domestic violence discrimination in the workplace: is statutory protection necessary? (presented at Our Work, Our Lives Conference 2010): www.qwws.org.au.
The workplace may be the only place a victim/survivor of domestic violence can spend a significant proportion of time away from the perpetrator. The workplace is a place in which those experiencing domestic violence can gain support, find out about family violence support services, obtain financial security and plot a path free from domestic violence.
As a community, we should care about and assist those who are marginalized and live in fear.
6. What’s in it for workers?
The union movement in Australia has recognised that domestic violence is also an industrial issue. The domestic violence clause will help bring about cultural and attitude change. There are currently no statutory provisions assisting and protecting victims and survivors of domestic violence, causing them to be vulnerable in the workplace.
It is about creating a workplace where people can disclose that they are experiencing domestic violence without fear of discrimination. It is also about allowing people who have experienced domestic violence to attend to issues related to the violence without exhausting their existing leave.
7. What’s in it for employers?
65% of people who experience domestic violence are in the workforce (Broderick, 2011). It is important for a workplace to ensure the impacts (including workplace health and safety, productivity and attendance of staff) of domestic are minimised, in order to run effectively. This can only happen in schools where people who are experiencing domestic violence are comfortable disclosing and are then able to work collaboratively with the school to reduce the impacts. As a pillar of their local communities, schools have a social responsibility and providing a supportive workplace for employees who experience domestic violence is one way to meet this responsibility and set an example for future generations:
“The effects of domestic violence are all-pervasive. Women suffer silently and business continues losing money, unaware. Business should address it not just because of the bottom line, but because it will take all sectors of society to eliminate this blight on our nation” (Broderick 2011).
7. Still not convinced?
If you need more information on why a domestic violence clause is a good thing, please see Ros for further resources to back up your bargaining claim.
The Australian Domestic and Family Violence Clearinghouse has published a number of factsheets and resources regarding domestic violence clauses in EBAs:
Please see attached Australian Government fact sheet and article by Australia’s Sex Discrimination Commissioner for further information.
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