What we can offer:

Ways for you to:

• Reduce sickness and absence
• Ensure you don’t lose great female staff when it could be avoided
• Demonstrate you’re an employer who cares and understands that your people are your biggest asset

Our services:

• Introductory advice/consultancy service around how domestic abuse could be affecting your business.
• Introductory workshops for managers and employees that help everyone to better understand domestic abuse, its impact, how to spot warning signs, creating a safe environment and knowing how, when and what action to take when supporting someone.
• Domestic abuse toolkit for employers (under development)
• Bespoke training/ consultancy for managers in areas such as developing and implementing models of employee support, developing HR policies that don’t inadvertently exclude victims of abuse, making workplace adjustments that encourage or keep vulnerable women in work, or addressing gender equality issues within your company.
• Guided training/ consultancy to help you achieve the Healthy Workplace Award (under development)
• Training ‘DVA champions’ within your organisation – people who will become known as someone a victim can turn to for initial advice and then be signposted to us at LAWC for specialist support.
• ‘Masterclass’ events in community settings for professionals from specific employment sectors to network and learn about DVA, including the many forms it takes and how to support victims or those at risk.
• Specialist initiatives for employers in sectors where staff have a particularly high chance of coming into contact with women affected by abuse (e.g. NHS staff, teachers or the police). See Training for Professionals and Schools/colleges for more information.

Please contact us to discuss any other areas you’re interested in, or other ways in which we might work together.

Why participate?

Home Office figures show that:

• 75% of people who endure domestic violence/abuse will also be targeted in the workplace, for instance by phone calls, by detrimental information being given to managers and by stalking from their abusers.

• Around 58% of abused women will miss at least three days of work a month and 2% will lose their jobs as a direct result.

• Less than 30% of employers know how to respond.

While it’s talked about much more than it was a decade ago, domestic abuse and associated behaviours are still very much hidden away, dealt with by a handful of small charities and voluntary organisations such as ourselves. We believe that real change can only come about if everyone plays a part and that employers have good reason to make it their business.

That is why we've developed the wide range of training and consultancy services for employers in Luton and Bedfordshire mentioned above. All of our employer services have been designed not only to help prevent and reduce the impact of abuse on a large part of the working population but also to bring numerous business benefits to the participating companies. Participating can help you impact a range of key business performance indicators such as reducing absenteeism, improving workplace wellbeing, increasing access to (and the retention of) skilled labour and attracting new talent.

Cost

Because we realise how important this work is, some of our introductory training and consultancy services for employers are offered free of charge. However, as a small organisation with limited capacity, we do have to make a charge for some of our more advanced, bespoke and intensive services.

We try our best to make costs as affordable as possible and are happy to quote for a programme of work that meets your needs.

Find out more

Please send a brief summary of the type of training or consultancy work you are interested in, along with what you hope to achieve through this process to [email protected]

Support our work

This page on our website has been designed to highlight the services we can offer you as an employer in Luton or Bedfordshire. If, instead, you are looking to support our work through your organisation, e.g. fundraising or skill sharing, please visit Corporate Partnerships.