Episode 8: Safety Planning Isn’t Just for Victims—Why Employers Need One Too.

A safety plan is usually framed as something a survivor builds in private while trying to leave an abusive partner. I want to flip that lens and make it practical for employers, because when domestic violence reaches the workplace it becomes a workplace safety issue, not a personal matter happening “somewhere else.” If danger walks through your doors, your people deserve more than good intentions and improvisation. 

In this episode, I break down:

• Why Safety Plans are a workplace responsibility that protects the whole team 
• OSHA General Duty Clause expectations around foreseeable violence
• 2025 to 2026 shifts in state mandates including California AB 2499 and SB 553
• the gap that turns danger into tragedy
• practical steps employers can put in place now
• lessons from 2026 workplace murders 

If you want a clearer, safer path forward for HR, Managers, and Business Leaders navigating domestic violence in the workplace, listen now!

Please subscribe, share with someone in your network, and leave a review so more workplaces build plans before they need them.

Transcript

Why Employers Need Safety Plans

SPEAKER_00 0:00

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. This is Episode 8. Safety Planning Isn't Just for Victims, Why Employers Need One Too. 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. When you hear the term safety plan, you may have no point of reference at all. If you're somewhat in the know, you probably think of something a survivor makes when leaving an abusive partner. But today I want to shift the lens and make you a business person who is really in the know. Because the truth is, employers need safety plans too. Not just for the survivor, but for everyone in the workplace. Domestic violence doesn't just threaten one victim. When it spills over into the workplace, it becomes a workplace safety issue, and employers have a duty to prepare. An employer's safety plan is about risk management, not prying into personal lives. It's about saying, if danger walks through our doors, we will be ready. We already know what to do. Why this matters.

Legal Duty And Rising Mandates

SPEAKER_00 1:20

A 2025 report from the National Domestic Violence Hotline found that 56% of survivors were actively working while experiencing domestic violence. That means this isn't a rare situation. It's something that is already present in workplaces across the country. And yet, many organizations still lack the specific safety planning accommodations needed to protect their employees when that risk shows up at work. From a legal standpoint, this is also becoming increasingly important. OSHA requires employers to provide a workplace free from recognized hazards, including foreseeable violence. Under the General Duty Clause, employers can be cited if they fail to take reasonable steps to address known threats, including intimate partner violence, when it becomes a workplace risk. And we're now seeing that expectation reflected in state law as well. Because of the high volume of workplace intimate partner violence incidents, several states began passing new mandates in 2025 and 2026. For example, California Assembly Bill 2499 requires employers to allow victims time off for safety planning. And Senate Bill 553 requires most California employers to maintain a written workplace violence prevention plan. The direction is clear. This is no longer just a best practice. It's becoming an expectation. But policies and expectations only matter if they translate into real life. In real life, safety planning doesn't happen automatically. It has to be intentional.

What Safety Planning Looks Like

SPEAKER_00 3:02

I can tell you from personal experience that intentional safety planning isn't optional when you're in that situation. It's necessary. One of the biggest misconceptions of domestic violence is that leaving is a single decision. In my experience, it wasn't. It required planning, quietly and over time. There were many points where I knew I needed to leave, but also knew that I couldn't just walk out or kick him out. I had to think about safety, money, communication, transportation, my children's schooling, and my work when I had it. I remember saving small amounts of cash where I could and using it to buy a phone that wasn't being monitored. That was survival planning. And that's the part people don't always understand. Safety doesn't happen by accident. It has to be prepared for. It requires a plan. There were times when I did leave, but I couldn't stay gone. Not because I didn't want to, but because I didn't have the resources or support to sustain it. I didn't have stable housing, consistent income, or child care. So I went back. And every time I went back, the situation became more controlled and more dangerous. If safety requires a plan, then leaving an abuser requires at least one, but often multiple. You need a plan to leave and a plan to stay safe afterward. In fact, I encourage women to have multiple plans, one for their home and family, one for each school their children attend, and one for their workplace, at minimum. And if that's what it takes for one person to stay safe, then we have to ask a bigger question. What plan does your workplace have? Because when that risk enters your organization, your employees shouldn't be the only ones trying to figure out how to respond. Your workplace should already be prepared. Because in that moment, there isn't time to figure it out.

The Employer Safety Plan Checklist

SPEAKER_00 5:04

What an employer safety plan should include. Number one, a threat response protocol. A designated person or team who handles these reports confidentially. Clear steps for what to do if an employee reports a threat. Number two, a documentation protocol. Train managers and HR to document all incidents of harassment, threats, or workplace intrusion, and then to give them to the designated person or team who handles threat response. This documentation is critical for obtaining restraining orders and supporting legal action. Number three, an emergency response plan. If an aggressive person shows up, your team needs to already know who gets notified and how. What gets communicated to staff? Who contacts law enforcement? Whether your location can lock down and how. And if evacuation is necessary, where people go and how they get there. We make school students practice fire drills, active shooter drills, and weather-related drills because it's important for everyone to know what to do before a potential tragedy happens. The same is true in this situation. You may not run drills, although that wouldn't be a bad idea. But at minimum, everyone on the team needs to know their role ahead of time. If you do those three recommendations, your organization will already be significantly safer than most because you will have general safety preparation. But if you want to do even better, you can make the plan relative to the individual threat. Here are some additional recommendations to improve your safety preparation. Number one, policy language that supports disclosure. Use wording that lets your employees know that they won't be penalized for coming forward. If applicable, include domestic violence under your company's list of protected health or safety concerns. Number two, threat assessment. Have your designated safety person or team work with the employee to understand the level of risk. Is the abuser likely to show up at work? Have they made threats, and if so, what kind? Do they have access to weapons? This assessment will help you determine what security measures are needed. 3. Flexible work accommodations. Are there work from home or adjusted schedule options for at-risk staff? Number four, communication protocol. Establish how the employee will communicate if they're in immediate danger. This might include a code word they can use with their supervisor, a designated contact person, or a direct line to security. Confidentiality protocol. Balance the need for safety with the employee's right to privacy. Share information on a need-to-know basis only and ensure the employee has control over who knows their situation. Emergency response protocol. What should employees do if the abuser shows up? How can you hide or evacuate the person they're there for?

Real Cases That Show The Gap

SPEAKER_00 8:27

In the last episode, we talked about the March 2026 case of Stephanie Stacy from Paducah, Kentucky, who was shot and killed while she was at work. She had a protection order in place, so there was already recognition of the danger, but there was no evidence that her employer had a safety plan in place. And that's the gap. Recognizing danger is not the same as being prepared for it. And unfortunately, this isn't an isolated case. Another example happened on January 15, 2026, at a suite of medical offices in Bradenton, Florida. Detectives reported that 29-year-old Keith Roberts Jr. walked inside and shot his ex-girlfriend, 29-year-old MyShala Burnham, to death. He then turned the gun on another office employee, 26-year-old Summer Freytag, presumably because she was there to witness the murder. He walked in an unlocked door and went directly to the desk where the victim, MyShayla Burnham, was, knowing that's where her desk was, and directly opened fire at point blank range, police chief Josh Kramer said. Keith and My Sheila had dated for multiple months, but recently ended the romantic relationship. Like many cases, the danger didn't start that day in January. It escalated over time and ended in tragedy. Without a workplace safety plan, there was no structured response when that risk became imminent. And that's the difference a plan makes. Not just in how you respond, but whether you're reacting or preventing. Because safety planning isn't just something individuals need, it's something organizations are responsible for. And when that responsibility isn't taken seriously, the consequences can be very costly.

Free Template And Next Steps

SPEAKER_00 10:22

If you don't currently have a workplace domestic violence policy or safety plan in place, that's the first step. You can download our free domestic violence policy template at Incasimurder.com slash safework and start building from there. And if your company already has a plan in place, take a moment to review it. What's working? What would actually happen if a real threat showed up tomorrow? Because having a plan on paper is one thing, being prepared to use it is another. Thanks for listening to the Safework Advantage podcast. If you found this helpful, be sure to subscribe and share it with someone in your network. Until I see you again, please stay safe and help others do the same.