In Biz

Employers: Help victims of family violence
by Bill Haight

A few weeks ago, Jody Glynn Patrick asked me to take her place on the WTDY radio show "In Business with Jody & Joan [Gillman]." Our guest that night was Hannah Rosenthal, communications vice president at WPS Health Insurance. She was on the show to introduce "Stopping Family Violence," a new initiative WPS is co-sponsoring with the Wisconsin Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

As a guy who has four sisters, two daughters and a granddaughter, I was pretty shocked to learn that one out of three women will be the victim of physical or
sexual abuse at some point in their lives. Over and above medical costs, related productivity losses total $1.8 billion.

The coalition is pushing for domestic violence screening to be part of routine health exams. They're urging doctors to discretely ask questions, after explaining to the patient that the questions are routine, such as "What happens when you and your partner argue?"

I asked Rosenthal what employers can do to help. Certainly we can't ask questions about employees' personal lives, as a doctor can. She reminded me that there is plenty an employer can do. One would be to set a company culture of confidential support, without penalty, for employees who face problems at home.

Having an Employee Assistance Program or hotline, which can be established quite inexpensively through a third party, is also a good step.

At In Business magazine, we outsource our HR functions to QTI Human Resources. As part of that service, we have a representative, Cindy Schmelzer, who pays a weekly visit to our office to answer employee questions. A main benefit of this arrangement is that all employees have an independent individual they can confide in confidentially about things they wouldnÕt want their supervisor or co-employees to know.

Employees talk to Cindy regularly and since it's confidential, I never know what the discussions are about. I assume most are routine questions about benefits and payroll. I asked Cindy if it was part of her job to also hear employee concerns about things that happen at home that affect workplace performance.

"Oh definitely," was her answer. "I don't attempt to counsel employees on these matters, but I listen to them and help refer them to appropriate professionals." An Employee Assistance Plan with a confidential hot-line phone number is part of the QTI service.

"Do you think this domestic violence campaign is a worthwhile thing?" I asked her.

"Oh yes. It's become scary, what I hear and see." She made it clear she wasn't necessarily referring to our employees — but again, because of confidentiality, I wouldn't know either way.

She also said the problem ranges across all age and socio-economic groups.

So if you're an employer, and you value your employees as most do, I'd suggest at the least posting prominently the National Domestic Violence Hotline: (800) 799-SAFE. United Way of Dane County also has a hotline (2-1-1) employees can call for confidential help with a variety of problems.