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Domestic Violence and the Workplace – Employee, Employer and Union Resources | 3

Domestic Violence Workplace Rights and Entitlements Project

Domestic Violence and the Workplace Employee, Employer and Union Resources

A project of the Australian Domestic and Family Violence Clearinghouse (ADFVC), funded by the Commonwealth Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations 2011 For more information about this project and to enquire about workplace training contact: Ludo McFerran: (02) 9385 1806; 0423 231 058; [email protected] Robyn Dale: (03) 9663 4555; 0414 706 148; [email protected]

This package contains a range of resources to support an effective response to domestic violence as it affects the workplace. The package has been developed by the Australian Domestic and Family Violence Clearinghouse in collaboration with unions and employers across Australia. International research and best practice have been used to inform the templates, guides and factsheets enclosed. These resources are intended as a guide, providing suggestions for those wishing to develop and enhance their workplace response to domestic violence in the interests of safety, productivity and employment sustainability.





The most common form of domestic violence reported by victims at work is abusive phone calls.

Obtaining a ‘domestic violence protection order’ can help stop abusive phone calls and/or emails.

The following recommendations will assist in managing abusive and unwelcome phone calls and/or emails in order to minimise the impact on the safety and work performance of employees experiencing domestic violence and their co-workers.

ConfidentialityWhere a worker discloses that they are receiving

unwelcome or abusive emails or calls, their

disclosure should be treated confidentially, in

accordance with the domestic violence clauses

in the relevant enterprise agreement and/or any

workplace privacy policy.

Emails n Any email communication containing threats

of harm should be reported to the police (and workplace security) immediately.

n Providing the worker with a new email address

may be the first response, but may disrupt

their work performance. It is preferable to

automatically divert all emails from the abuser

into to a separate folder and/or block emails

from the abuser’s email account. This minimises

disruption.

n Any abusive, threatening or excessive email

received should be stored and retained. This

can assist the victim to obtain a domestic

violence protection order against the abuser

and can be used as evidence of breach of a

protection order (if applicable).

Phone calls or text messagesn Calls or text messages containing threats of

harm should be reported to the police (and workplace security) immediately.

n The time, date, length and content of all

unwanted calls should be noted. Any abusive

text messages should be saved or noted if the

phone memory is full.

n Telephone calls generally cannot be recorded

by the recipient or monitored without the

caller’s permission, however, where a caller

is informed that their call is to be transferred

to voicemail or an answer phone, and they

continue with the phone call, this counts as

consenting to the recording.

Recommended safety actions includen Changing the worker’s phone number.

n Removing the worker’s name or phone number

from publicly available contact lists (or from

internal phone directories where the abusive

person is also an employee). This should

include automated phone directories.

n Using voicemail or an answering machine to

screen calls.

n Other strategies include:

1. Providing a telephone handset with ‘caller

ID’, allowing the worker to screen their own

calls.

n This will not work where the abusive person

uses a blocked number or calls from a

number unknown to the victim.

n One company provides a ‘caller ID’ unit

which can be used on any handset with this

facility for $6 per month.

WORKPLACE GUIDEManaging abusive calls and emails

Domestic Violence and the Workplace – Employee, Employer and Union Resources | Page 14









2. Using different ring tones for calls from particular numbers, allowing the worker to

screen calls.

n One telephone company provides this

service for $4.40 per month.

3. Using a call forwarding service, provided

by some telephone systems/companies.

n This enables calls from selected numbers to

be forwarded to the supervisor, security staff

or an answer phone before it reaches the

employee’s phone. One company provides

this service for $2.20 per month.

4. Police can trace calls and order phone records (see police powers below).

Co-workers and screeningIt may be necessary to let colleagues know about

the situation to provide effective safety for the

victim and their co-workers.

n Colleagues may be asked to assist in

screening incoming phone calls for the victim.

n If telephone calls are routed through a

switchboard, they can screen particular names/

numbers.

n Co-workers to whom disclosure is made should

be aware of their privacy and confidentiality

obligations. Training should be provided to

ensure they do not inadvertently disclose

information to callers which may place the

victim at risk.

Police powers to trace calls n In each State and Territory the police have

a nominated point of contact (the Police

Communication Centre) which coordinates

action between telephone providers and the

police regarding life-threatening calls.

n Police investigating a menacing, harassing or

offensive call can order the phone company to

provide identifying information about the caller.

Telephone provider powersn For repeated unwelcome calls, the telephone

provider can identify the caller’s number

and implement procedures to stop them (in

conjunction with the telephone provider of the

caller if the two are not the same). There may

be a small charge involved (about $5).

n For further reading, refer to the phone

provider’s website for example Telstra

customers can read:

http://telstra.com.au/abouttelstra/advice/

unwelcome-calls/

domestic violence and the workplace – employee, … · robyn dale: r u ... n one company provides...

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