NZ parliament shows the way
New Zealand has passed legislation granting victims of domestic violence 10 days paid leave to allow them to leave their partners, find new homes and protect themselves and their children.
The bill passed with 63 votes to 57. Opponents of Green MP Jan Logie's private members' bill withdrew support at the last hour saying the cost to small and medium-size businesses would be too great and employers may discriminate against people they suspected of being domestic violence victims.
Chronic rate of family violence in NZ
Police respond to a family violence incident every four minutes Family violence is estimated to cost the country between NZ$4.1bn and $7bn a year.
Logie said the new legislation was the first step in tackling the country’s endemic and “horrifying” domestic abuse rates, and other countries should follow suit.
The new legislation will come into effect in April next year and stipulates that any person experiencing domestic violence will be entitled to 10 days paid leave from work, which will be in addition to standard holiday and sick leave entitlements.
“Domestic violence doesn’t respect that split between work and life. A huge amount of research tells us a large number of abusive partners bring the violence into the workplace,” said Logie. “Be that by stalking their partner, by constant emails or phone calls or threatening them or their workmates. And some of that is about trying to break their attachment to their job to get them fired or get them to quit so they are more dependent on their partner. It is very common.”
Domestic violence victims will not have to provide proof to their employer of their circumstances. They will also be entitled to fast-tracked flexible work conditions designed to ensure their safety, such as changing their work location, changing their email address and having their contact details removed from the business’s website.
World's first nationally legislated paid family violence leave
NZ is the first country to introduce legislate this type of paid leave nationally. Two states in Canada also allow employees affected by family violence paid leave.
In March 2018, the Fair Work Commission ruled that all Australian employees covered by modern awards would be entitled to five days of unpaid leave if they are affected by family or domestic violence. The union movement had called for 10 days of paid domestic violence leave for all workers.
Parts of this article were sourced from an article originally published in The Guardian
Published by: Divorce Resource
Photo credit: Green Party
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