On this page, we talk about how you can support someone:

• who works for you
• who is experiencing violence or abuse.

  Violence or abuse is when someone:

  • hurts you
  • scares you
  • controls you.

There is support available if the information on this page upsets you.

You can find out more on our page about support.

On this page:

• Why employers need to keep people safe at work
• How to keep people safe at work
• Support for employers
• Example story

As an employer, you need to create a safe place for people to work.

People can experience violence or abuse at work.

This could be from:

• someone they work with
• a customer.

People can also experience violence or abuse at home.

When someone experiences violence or abuse at home, it can keep happening while they are at work.

For example, they might get mean text messages or phone calls while they are working.

Violence or abuse affects:

• a person’s health and wellbeing
• how well someone does their job.

This can lead to people losing their jobs.

You can find out more about the effects of violence and abuse of people at work on the Our Watch website.

You need to know the signs that someone is experiencing violence or abuse at work.

These signs could include:

• bruises or other injuries
• being late or not coming to work
• getting stressed after taking a phone call or reading a text message
• not doing their job as well as they used to.

You also need to know how you can support someone who is experiencing violence or abuse at work.

For example, you can talk to the person you think is experiencing violence or abuse.

You can try to understand what is happening and ask them what they need to be safe.

You need to understand that some people have a higher risk of experiencing violence or abuse.

For example, women with disability.

You need to train managers at work to know:

• the signs of violence or abuse
• what to do if they think someone might be experiencing violence or abuse.

You can show workers that you care about ending violence or abuse.

For example, you could support organisations that are working to stop violence or abuse.

You could create policies for what you are doing to keep people safe at work.

These policies could include:

• how people can report violence or abuse
• the different supports available at work, such as counselling.

  Counselling is when you work with someone to explore how you think and feel.

  This can help you:

  • reach goals
  • feel safe
  • learn skills
  • understand what happened to you.

You can find out more about how to keep people safe at work on the Fair Work Ombudsman website.

You can find out more about the rights of the people who work for you on the IncludeAbility website.

You can find out more about what to do when someone tells you they are experiencing violence or abuse on the Our Watch website.

You can find out more about talking to people experiencing violence or abuse on our page about how to support someone in a safe way.

We wrote a story to show an example of how you can support someone at work who is experiencing violence or abuse.

The story we wrote is about a person called Carmen.

The story and the people in it are not real.

We made them up to explain how you can support someone at work who is experiencing violence or abuse.

Carmen is on the autism spectrum.

Carmen also feels a lot of pain in her body.

She worries about how much this pain affects how well she can do her job.

Carmen does not tell anyone about her pain.

Carmen experiences bullying at work.

She does not feel like she can tell her employer about the bullying.

Carmen takes lots of time off work so she does not have to deal with the bullying.

She wonders if she should look for another job.

One of Carmen’s co-workers asks her if she needs help.

Carmen tells her about why she feels stressed and takes so much time off.

Carmen and her co-worker talk to their employer to fix the problems.