Domestic Abuse

Advice and support for businesses

An unhealthy and abusive relationship at home, can have significant consequences for employers throughout the country.

Approximately 30,200 people aged 16 to 74 are experiencing domestic abuse per year in Lincolnshire. With 75% of those are being directly abused at work and 54% missing at least three days of work a month.

Employees experiencing domestic abuse are also more likely to find it difficult to concentrate and focus at work, and have a hard time progressing within their role.

1 in 5 said they would stop going into work or take days off.

1 in 10 have quit their job due to the impact of the abuse they were experiencing.

The cost of domestic abuse to businesses, is estimated at £19 billion a year due to:

decreased productivity
time off work
lost wages
sick pay

Identifying domestic abuse is part of a business’s safeguarding duty of care, under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

It can have an adverse impact on staff morale, as well as a business’s image and reputation.

We want to establish links with businesses in the county to help you support staff affected by domestic abuse.

Our support for businesses

Business engagement is a national response for employers to have a consistent approach in understanding and supporting those in work that may disclose domestic abuse.

In Lincolnshire, business engagement is key to identifying and offering appropriate support to those experiencing domestic abuse.

The support is free and can help your workforce to improve their mental health, wellbeing and safety.

This engagement will give your business the confidence to:

enhance your workforce with the understanding of domestic abuse
improve your response to domestic abuse disclosures
build confidence to signpost your workforce to support services
improve the wellbeing of your employees who are experiencing domestic abuse
allow employers to respond effectively to disclosures
raise awareness within the wider community
allow for safe spaces within work premises
support with the disruption of perpetrators

We offer businesses the choice of three packages.

Bronze

Details	Expectations	Benefits
Access to domestic abuse resources DA Resource Hub for Businesses – Professional resources (lincolnshire.gov.uk) Awareness of local and national DA services DA Awareness training for key staff including safety planning at work Invite to the annual Business Conference	Annual review to maintain Bronze status Complete DA awareness training every 2 years Ensure any new staff are trained within 6 months of start date Make sure resources are kept up to date and distributed within key areas of the workplace	Ability to support staff (support to report) and increase their well-being and safety at work Improve staff ability to seek support if required Raise awareness of domestic abuse and the message that your business is a safe space Network and build relations at the yearly business conference

Silver

Details	Expectations	Benefits
All the above, as well as: Domestic Abuse Policy and Pathway support Invites to the safeguarding digital workshops	Annual review to maintain Silver status Internal mechanisms set up to record numbers of DA disclosures and action taken Complete DA awareness training every 2 years Ensure any new staff within 6 months of start date Make sure resources are kept up to date and distributed within key areas of the workplace	All the above, as well as: Embed a policy and pathway to support people experiencing DA, those worried about a colleague, friend or family member or their own behaviour towards someone else Build awareness of other areas of safeguarding issues through workshops Network and build awareness at the yearly business conference and through workshops

Gold

Details	Expectations	Benefits
All the above as well as: DASH training for identified safeguarding leads MARAC training for identified safeguarding leads	Annual review to maintain Gold status Internal mechanisms set up to record numbers of DA disclosures and action taken Complete DA awareness training every 2 years Ensure any new staff are trained within 6 months of start date Make sure resources are kept up to date and distributed within key areas of the workplace Attending MARAC where appropriate	All the above, as well as: Offer in depth understanding of safeguarding when disclosures of DA are made

Certificates will be provided on completion of your chosen package and will remain live for a year.

You have the option to renew your status each year, or change to another package. This will allow us to have continuous engagement with you.

Sign up to our business engagement offer
If you are interested in the work we have already carried out view our Community safety and emergencies privacy notice.

You can also find national resources at:

Free workshops for businesses

We offer online workshops for businesses, to help support employee well-being, safeguarding and upskill domestic abuse champions.

The workshops are aimed to improve the skills and knowledge of the business on each topic area so they can then recognise if an employee is impacted by the subject discussed at the workshops and feel confident about the next steps.

Businesses will learn what support services are available in Lincolnshire and nationally.

The workshops will cover the following topics:

adult safeguarding
child safeguarding
mental health
domestic abuse
drug and alcohol issues

These take place online for one hour, on a Tuesday at 9.30am periodically throughout the year.

We will be hosting our next online workshop on mental health in March 2025, more information will be coming out in January 2025.

Print this document

Cover your tracks online

You can find information at the Womens Aid website on how to cover your tracks online

Cover your tracks

National Domestic Abuse helpline

Telephone: 0808 2000 247