SINGAPORE – The Covid-19 pandemic has led to an emerging trend of companies running workshops to educate their staff about family violence, or putting in place human resource policies and practices to support staff who suffer abuse at the hands of their loved ones.

Ms Corinna Lim, executive director of the Association of Women for Action and Research (Aware), said that interest among firms about family violence matters was “practically non-existent” before the pandemic started in 2020.

Aware’s training and consulting arm, Catalyse Consulting, runs workshops to educate participants about family violence. This includes teaching them how to spot signs of domestic abuse, how to respond when a colleague shares that he or she is a victim, and to help the colleague get assistance.

She said: “I expected that post-Covid-19, this (interest) would end. But it has not. And it looks like this trend is here to stay as more companies get on board.”

Ms Lim said work-from-home arrangements during the pandemic have blurred the line between work and home. More bosses are also aware of family violence and mental health issues, which affect their staff’s work performance.

Mrs Stefanie Yuen-Thio, chairwoman of non-profit group SG Her Empowerment (SHE), pointed out that family violence cases rose significantly during the pandemic too, leading to greater awareness of the problem.

For example, the three centres in Singapore that specialise in tackling family violence saw 1,103 new cases in the financial year that ended in March 2021, a 24 per cent increase from two years earlier.

Aware has heard of cases where the abuser stalks or spam calls the victim’s workplace, or even harasses the victim’s boss to track the victim down, Ms Lim said.

Catalyse Consulting started its workshops to educate companies about family violence to keep victims and other employees safe. Since 2020, it has run about 15 workshops.

Non-profit group United Women’s Singapore also runs a workshop that teaches participants how to spot, respond to and refer victims of family violence for help.

This workshop is part of its Gensafe Workplaces programme, which it launched in 2020, that advocates staff policies that provide a safe, inclusive and supportive workplace.

The group also launched its Gensafe Workplaces Informational Handbook in 2021, which provides standards and practices for companies to build their own domestic violence workplace policy.

Companies such as Deloitte and Google have also put in place human resources policies or programmes to help staff affected by family violence.

In 2021, Deloitte implemented its domestic and family violence policies across South-east Asia. Selected individuals in each country’s office are trained as first responders to assist staff affected by family violence.

The support given includes counselling, paid leave, flexible work arrangements and financial assistance.

Ms Giam Ei Leen, Deloitte’s South-east Asia talent leader, said the financial aid includes offering zero-interest loans to staff who may need money urgently. The paid leave is on top of a staff member’s annual entitlement, so that he or she can manage what is happening at home without worry.

The amount of interest-free loan or paid leave depends on each case, she said.

In an example of how it provides support, Deloitte South-east Asia extended counselling to a staff member who faced family violence, and helped facilitate a transfer for the person to a role in another country’s office when the staff member expressed a desire to move abroad.

Ms Giam said: “Violence against women continues to be an obstacle in our journey towards equality, development and peace in our society.

“It is therefore important for organisations to do their part to provide as much support as they can in this regard as part of the fight to make our world more inclusive and equitable.”

Google also supports staff who are victims of family violence, like by offering them counselling. In 2019, Google implemented its Campus Assessment Response and Education (Care) programme.

It has a global Care team which works with its partners to provide support for staff who are victims of domestic violence, said Ms Leeran Gold, a trained psychologist and the Care programme lead for the Asia-Pacific.

Ms Gold said: “The workplace may be the only place where a victim can access and receive support, while also being a place that is likely to be targeted by an abuser. 

“We have a responsibility to educate, support and empower individuals to come forward to share their concerns, so we can all work towards reducing and eliminating family violence from our communities.”

The National Trades Union Congress U Women and Family in 2021 also started training union leaders to spot and support members who may be victims of family violence, said its director Yeo Wan Ling.

That year alone, 88 union leaders were trained.

SHE’s Mrs Yuen-Thio said: “It’s good for business for employers to support employees going through a tough patch. It’s good for staff retention and talent attraction.”