Episode 1 - How Domestic Violence Follows Employees to Work—and What HR Can Do

We expose how domestic violence follows employees to work, why the workplace becomes a predictable point of risk, and what HR can do today. We share stories, data, and a simple plan to recognize signs, offer private resources, and build a culture of safety without forcing disclosure.

• Why domestic violence shows up at work
• Warning signs managers can spot early
• The costs of abuse for employers and the self‑employed
• Key data from CDC and OSHA on risk and liability
• 3 practical steps to create safety
• How to offer confidential resources without disclosure
• Building empathy into manager training and culture
• Introduction to Safe Work Advantage and how it works
• Where to download the employer overview packet

For free tools, templates, and workplace resources, visit incasimurdered.com/safework.  

If you're ready to take the next step, you can download the FREE Employer Overview Packet there too!

Transcript

Mission And Framing

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Episode one, how domestic violence follows employees to work and what HR Can Do. Welcome to the Safe Work Advantage podcast, where we help HR professionals, managers, and business leaders create safer, more supportive workplaces for employees facing domestic violence. I'm April Hardy, survivor, advocate, and founder of In Case I Murdered LLC. And this show is where compassion meets compliance and safety meets strategy. A quick note before we begin: the case studies and workplace examples I share are hypothetical scenarios based on composite industry research and experience. They're designed for educational purposes and don't represent specific individuals or organizations. My personal stories are clearly identified as my own experience. For specific legal or HR advice related to your workplace, please consult qualified professionals.

Angela’s Story And Warning Signs

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What if I told you that your most loyal, high-performing employee might be navigating an abusive relationship and showing up for work every day hoping that no one finds out? She gets her job done, she keeps her head down, she avoids unnecessary conversations. But underneath that professionalism is fear. Because the person threatening her life knows where she works. Let me tell you about someone that I met. We'll call her Angela. Angela worked for a retail company. She was sharp, on time, and dependable, but her abuser would wait in the parking lot for her after she got out of work. Sometimes he'd send dozens of messages while she was working. Her supervisor never asked questions, and Angela never volunteered answers. Eventually, one day, she didn't come to work at all. Her partner had attacked her the night before. Her coworkers were shocked. Her employer was devastated, but it was all preventable if someone had known what to look for.

Host’s Lived Experience Of Stalking

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I understand workplace stalking from a unique perspective, because I've experienced it both as a victim and as a business owner. I've been both employed and self-employed while in abusive relationships. As a corrections officer, I found myself being the primary breadwinner right after we moved in together, and I couldn't go out with my coworkers without bringing him along or he would get jealous. As a 911 dispatcher, I was taking emergency calls while dealing with my own emergency at home. I came into work in tears on several occasions. My co-workers and my boss knew that something wasn't right. And when I stepped down from that position for my fiance, my boss tried to convince me to stay, saying that he was worried about me. And I'm grateful that he tried in some small way. Years later, I started working for myself. Running a cleaning business afforded me some safety by not requiring me to go to the same place for work at the same time every day. I could vary my routine somewhat, but I was still being stalked through an app on my phone, and then by more than one ex having people follow me and report back to them, or talking to people in my life to get information on me. I was stalked, threatened, and harassed at my home when I wasn't working, and I had an ex give me a poor review on my Google Business listing, warning women that I was a whore who would go after their husbands. I have vivid memories of parking in clients' garages while I was cleaning their homes so that my ex wouldn't see my car, and vivid memories of sobbing while cleaning people's showers. And here's what most people don't realize. When you're self-employed and being abused, you absorb all of the costs that employers absorb when their employees are being abused. Lost productivity, that's lost income. Missed meetings, that's lost clients. Inability to focus, that can be business failure. That experience taught me many critical things, one of which being that domestic violence does not care what kind of a job you have. It follows you everywhere. And workplaces, whether you work for yourself or for someone else, need to be prepared. That's why I'm so passionate about helping employers create safer workplaces, because I know what it costs when they don't, both in dollars and in lives.

Why Domestic Violence Hits Workplaces

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Domestic violence doesn't stay at home. It bleeds into every corner of a person's life, including the workplace. It affects concentration, performance, attendance, and most dangerously for you, it can escalate into workplace violence. Abusers know where their victims work. That makes the workplace one of the most predictable and therefore one of the riskiest parts of a survivor's day. It's a key site for both prevention and protection. So what do HR professionals and employers need to know?

Data, Risk, And Employer Gaps

SPEAKER_00 5:19

Let's start with the numbers. Nearly one in three women experience intimate partner violence in their lifetime. Victims are significantly more likely to miss work, change jobs, or leave the workplace entirely. According to the CDC, intimate partner violence costs the United States over $5.8 billion each year, much of that in lost productivity. More than 70% of workplaces in the United States do not have formal policy to address workplace violence stemming from domestic issues. And most importantly, 78% of the women that are killed at work were murdered by a current or former partner, according to OSHA. What you

Three Practical Steps For HR

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can do. Now before you panic or feel overwhelmed, here's the good news. You don't need to be a counselor or an expert to make a difference. Here are three ways to start creating a safer workplace today. 1. Recognize the signs. These include sudden changes in performance, frequent unexplained absences, visible anxiety or jumpiness, and constant texting or phone calls from their partner. 2. Offer confidential resources. Don't wait for a disclosure. Instead, share tools that employees can access privately, like SafeWork Advantage. Let your team know that the resources are available. No questions asked. 3. Make safety part of your culture. Post resources in break rooms and HR portals. Train managers to respond with empathy, not suspicion or judgment. You don't have to know who needs help to create a workspace where help is easy to find. You might be wondering, isn't this a private issue? Or thinking, we don't want to overstep any boundaries here. That's completely valid. And here's the thing: you don't have to force disclosures. You don't have to ask intrusive questions. All you have to do is make sure that the resources are available and that your staff knows where to find them.

Boundaries, Liability, And Culture

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Another common concern is liability, and yes, there is legal precedent for employer responsibility if violence spills over into the workplace and you have done nothing to prevent it. But there's also opportunity. When you offer help and show care, you create a workplace that people feel safe in. And that saves money, reduces turnover, and builds a healthier team.

Safe Work Advantage Solution

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This is exactly why I created Safe Work Advantage. This program is trauma-informed, completely private, and designed to give your employees access to safety tools without having to disclose anything to HR. At the same time, your employees don't have to track who's using it. You just make the resource available and the program takes it from there. Your employees get the support, your organization lowers risk and liability, and nobody has to navigate a crisis alone.

How To Get Started

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If you're ready to take the next step, download the free employer overview packet at incaseimurdered.com forward slash safe work. It talks you through exactly how the program works, what's included, and how to get started. You don't have to be an expert in domestic violence to become a safety leader in your workplace. We'll help you do both. Thanks for listening to the Safework Advantage

Closing And Free Resources

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podcast. If you found this helpful, be sure to subscribe and share it with someone in your network. For free tools, templates, and workplace resources, visit Incasimurdered.com forward slash safework. Until next time, please stay safe and help others do the same.