Sadly, New Zealand has some of the worst rates of domestic violence in the developed world. The effects of domestic violence spill over into all aspects of our society, including the working world. The Domestic Violence Victims’ Protection Act (2018), which will come into force on 1 April 2019, gives employees who are subject to domestic violence options to help them feel safe while also keeping their job.
What Counts As ‘Domestic Violence’?
‘Domestic Violence’ is classified as ‘violence against a person by someone that they are in a domestic relationship with.’ This includes a person’s spouse or partner, family member, or another person sharing the household. ‘Violence’ is not limited to physical or sexual violence, and includes psychological abuse such as intimidation, damage to property, financial abuse and threats of abuse – with both one-off events and repeated minor events capable of amounting to domestic violence.
How Much Of A Problem Is Domestic Violence In New Zealand?
New Zealand Police are called to investigate incidents of domestic violence about once every five minutes, with 118,910 investigations in 2016. While the number of Police call-outs for domestic violence is increasing year-to-year, it is estimated that only around 25% of domestic violence incidents are reported to the Police. Perhaps unsurprisingly, domestic violence is considered one of New Zealand’s most serious social issues.
How Does Domestic Violence Affect Employers?
Under the Act, victims of domestic violence will be eligible for 10 days paid leave per year. Employers also have an obligation to work with affected employees to help the employee deal with the effects of domestic violence.
For example, varied working arrangements can include a change in the employee’s days, hours and place of work, or variation to any other terms of their employment. If an employee makes a request for varied working arrangements because of domestic violence, the employer must respond with their decision within 10 working days. If the employee disputes the employer’s decision, they can refer the matter to a Labour Inspector, Mediation, or the Employment Relations Authority.
There is no legal requirement for employers to report the violence to Police or offer further support to the victim.
Domestic Violence Leave Process
At times, domestic violence can be difficult to prove. If you doubt your employee is affected by domestic violence, you have 3 working days from the date of the employee’s request to ask for proof of domestic violence, which the employee must then provide within 10 working days. At this stage, what constitutes proof of domestic violence isn’t clearly defined. Due to the highly sensitive nature of domestic violence, it may be difficult for employers to decide what level of proof an employee must provide. Please ask us if you’re unsure of what’s reasonable to ask.
Employers can only decline the variation of working arrangements on one of two grounds. Either the employee has not provided proof of domestic violence, or the proposed working arrangements cannot be reasonably accommodated. For example, the arrangements will have a detrimental effect on quality, performance or meeting customer demand; or that the burden of additional costs on the employer is too great.
Employee requests for paid domestic violence leave can be made no matter how long ago the domestic violence occurred, even if this was before the employee began working for the Employer.
Domestic Violence Leave Guidelines
After working continuously with an employer for 6 months, employees affected by domestic violence can make written requests for up to 10 days of paid domestic violence leave per year. Domestic violence leave is similar in many ways to sick leave, though unlike sick leave it does not accrue and cannot be carried forward year to year.
Because the Government has not provided guidelines around proof of domestic violence, we recommend employers prepare Domestic Violence policies well in advance, and ask your employees for comment before 1 April 2019. In preparing these policies, employers should keep in mind that they have mutual obligations of trust and confidence with their employees, and need to be responsive and communicative.
Where To From Here?
As with all new changes to employment law it is better to begin planning how your business will accommodate and respond to these requests ahead of time. If you have any questions about your obligations under the Domestic Violence – Victims’ Protection Act 2018, or need help preparing workplace policies, please contact the Godfreys Law Employment team on 03 366 7469.
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