Many victim-survivors of family and domestic violence (FDV) have experienced, or believe they would experience, stigma and discrimination in the workplace.
BETA recently explored the impact of the newly introduced paid leave entitlement for FDV victim-survivors in Australia. We discovered that the entitlement not only provides meaningful support for victim-survivors in crisis, but also has the potential to reduce workplace stigma and discrimination.
Since 2023, Australian workers can access 10 days of paid FDV leave per year. Our research found that teaching people about this new legislation resulted in more positive views about a fictional employee's workplace performance – ‘Emily' – who took leave from work due to experiences with FDV. Australian workers who were provided with details about the paid leave legislation before they evaluated Emily's workplace performance and behaviour (rather than after):
- were 10 percentage points more likely to indicate that Emily was a suitable candidate for management (44% versus 34%).
- rated Emily's competence significantly higher (average score out of 6 of 4.13 versus 4.06).
- felt that Emily was deserving of a $20 greater monetary bonus ($477 versus $457).
Our findings suggest the leave entitlement is a potential mechanism to reduce stigma and discrimination against FDV victim-survivors in the workplace.
We asked our survey participants to explain their responses. The reasons provided clues as to why those who read about the entitlement before made more favourable evaluations.
The legislation may encourage a greater focus on work performance
In the scenario, Emily's key performance measures were objectively above average compared to her peers. The most common reason why Emily was viewed as an acceptable management candidate by survey participants was because of her strong work performance.
"Because even with the trouble she is facing she's still performing and largely reliable. Building in flexibility would accommodate her personal circumstances."
– Survey participant.
On the other hand, reasons provided by those who felt Emily was not an acceptable management candidate were due to Emily's undesirable workplace behaviours. This included arriving late for work (requiring her to work through her lunch break), sometimes being unfocused in team meetings, and displaying a reticence to work with males.
"To be an effective manager, you need to be an example to employees. Turning up late and being distracted can be improved and it's something to work on improving." – Survey participant
"Her work and home life need to be separated and clear processes put in place to support her. A promotion would not only disadvantage other good employees but possibly be too much for her to take on." – Survey participant
The legislation may encourage a greater focus on employee strengths
In the scenario, Emily's work performance was a clear strength. It may be that awareness of the legislation encouraged participants to identify Emily's strengths, rather than focus on performance.
Indeed, the language used by participants when discussing Emily's performance differed depending on whether they had first read about the entitlement or not.
Those who had read about the entitlement were more likely to suggest Emily's strong performance was ‘in spite' of what was happening in her personal life. This indicates that they saw her ability to maintain high-performance during adversity as evidence of a management strength.
"She is an exceptional worker, all things considered. She performs highly despite the significant stress and social issues which impact her. I'd chat with her about adding extra burden via promotion and try and help her along a path that suits her." – Survey participant who had read details about the paid FDV leave
On the other hand, participants who had not read details about the entitlement were more likely to see Emily's experience of FDV as a weakness in her character or place caveats on their management recommendation. This suggests they viewed Emily's experience of FDV as a weakness in relation to her management potential.
"She needs to focus on her self-esteem and find the courage to leave her boyfriend before being considered. The manager role is for a strong person, and she isn't there yet." – Survey participant who was unaware of the paid FDV leave entitlement
"Because she has the ability to work excellent in her job. Only thing she should take a notice is she has to not let her personal stuff affect her performance at work. If she can avoid this aspect, Emily should be definitely considered." – Survey participant who was unaware of the paid FDV leave entitlement
The legislation may remind people about bans on discrimination
When describing the new entitlement, we told participants:
An employer must not use any information relating to the family and domestic violence leave for any other purpose. In particular, an employer must not use such information to discriminate against the employee.
The leave entitlement could be acting as a reminder of the anti-discriminatory provisions within legislation, prompting people to think more carefully about supporting employees who require the FDV leave.
Although the paid FDV leave legislation itself does not have anti-discrimination provisions, employees wishing to take the leave are protected under related legislation. Experiencing FDV is a "protected attribute" under the Fair Work Act. This means employers cannot take adverse action against an employee or prospective employee because of their experience of FDV.
Is awareness of the entitlement enough to reduce discrimination?
This research cannot tell us if the more favourable evaluations occurred because of participants' awareness of the entitlement details, or if it was because participants received a specific prompt to ‘not discriminate' right before they evaluated Emily.
It could be that both awareness and reminders at the point of performance evaluations are helpful.
The paid FDV leave entitlement may signal that our society sees the support of FDV victim-survivors as an important community responsibility. Enduring attitudinal changes can occur following the introduction of legal mandates because citizens view the legal system as a legitimate and reliable source of morality that reflects community values.
Timely reminders are also helpful. Humans are busy and forgetful, and in tasks such as workplace performance evaluations, it's easy to overlook some considerations. In situations where there are many competing factors to consider, we are particularly vulnerable to allowing stigmas and stereotypes to run unchecked. Prompts during workplace performance evaluations that remind managers not to use information relating to an employee's experience of FDV (other than to grant access to the paid FDV leave) may be particularly effective at reducing discrimination.
You can read the full report and find more about our research on our website.