Domestic Violence and the Workplace

Women + Girls Research Alliance

Domestic Violence and the Workplace: Experiences, Attitudes, and Organizational Practices within a Large Corporation

Domestic Violence and the Workplace: Experiences, Attitudes, and Organizational Practices within a Large Corporation Shanti Kulkarni, Ph.D., LCSW

Final Report prepared for Women + Girls Research Alliance, UNC Charlotte

December 27, 2013

Table of Contents Executive Summary ....................................................................................................................................................................................................... 1 Key Findings ................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 1 Background ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 2 Significance......................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 3 Method .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 4 Progress and Results ..................................................................................................................................................................................................... 4 Sample Description................................................................................................................................................................................................... 4 Domestic Violence Experiences ......................................................................................................................................................................... 5 Workplace Disclosure ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 6 Employee Perceptions About Domestic Violence in the Workplace ............................................................................................. 8 Challenges and Limitations .................................................................................................................................................................................. 8 Conclusion and Recommendations ................................................................................................................................................................. 9 References........................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 11 Appendix A ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 12

Executive Summary The following report summarizes a workplace study of employees’ domestic violence (DV) experiences and attitudes. Domestic violence exacts a huge cost on employee productivity and health nationally (CDC 2003). An important resource for domestic violence survivors, employment often is undermined by abuse tactics. A total of 535 employees completed a web-based survey between September 16 and October 25, 2013. Respondents were surveyed about domestic violence experiences as well as workplace experiences and perceptions related to domestic violence.

Key Findings  Domestic violence rates found were similar to national statistics—approximately one in five employees reported DV during their employment period.  More than half (57 percent) of domestic violence survivors disclosed to someone in their workplace. However, most did not tell their supervisors (77 percent), Employee Assistance Program (EAP) (80 percent), or Human Resources (HR) (90 percent). Slightly more than half told their coworkers (56 percent).  When domestic violence survivors did disclose, they tended to receive a helpful response.

However, approximately one in four reported an unhelpful response.  Most employees perceived their workplace as supportive, especially around issues of safety and victims’ receiving time off. However, they were less tolerant about the possibility of domestic violence affecting an employees’ work and less certain about whether EAP services would be confidential and whether they would know how to respond to a coworker who was dealing with domestic violence.  Domestic violence survivors had slightly different perceptions than those who had not experienced domestic violence: they were more likely to believe personal problems, like domestic violence, should not affect work performance. They also were less likely to believe supervisors would help them and less likely to believe domestic violence survivors would get time off. They were more likely to believe that coworkers would judge them.

Domestic violence survivors still had fairly positive overall perceptions about their supervisors, coworkers, and workplace with the exception of EAP concerns.

Definition

Domestic violence is the willful intimidation, physical assault, battery, sexual assault, and/or other abusive behavior perpetrated by an intimate partner against another. It is an epidemic affecting individuals in every community, regardless of age, economic status, race, religion, nationality, or educational background. Violence against women often is accompanied by emotionally abusive and controlling behavior, and thus is part of a systematic pattern of dominance and control. Domestic violence results in physical injury, psychological trauma, and sometimes death.

The consequences of domestic violence can cross generations and truly last a lifetime. (National Coalition Against Domestic Violence 2013)

Background Last year in Mecklenburg County, Safe Alliance sheltered 732 domestic violence victims and their children (Mecklenburg County 2012). In addition to shelter, more than 1,500 adult and child victims received counseling and case-management services from the Mecklenburg County Community Support Services Women’s Commission Division. The domestic violence hotline received 8,500 calls during the same period (Mecklenburg County 2012). These numbers are compelling. Yet, research suggests that most domestic violence victims do not seek professional services that may increase safety and well-being (e.g., Fugate, Landis, Riordan, Naureckas, & Engel 2005). Domestic violence victims experience numerous help-seeking barriers, including shame about the abuse, fears of abuser retaliation, and limited community resource knowledge (Swanberg, Logan, & Macke 2005). Public awareness campaigns help to raise dialog and understanding through targeted educational efforts.

The campaigns ultimately serve to reduce service barriers and alter attitudes that blame and/or isolate victims.

In 2010, the Women + Girls Research Alliance (formerly the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Women’s Summit) hosted the first Domestic Violence in the Workplace Summit to increase employers’ awareness of domestic violence impacts in the workplace and to encourage best practices in workplace responses. In 2012, the eNOugh campaign also launched locally in Mecklenburg and Iredell counties. This campaign was the first cohesive, media-based statewide effort to raise awareness of violence against women (http://enoughviolence.com/). In addition to community media outreach, the eNOugh campaign is engaged in targeted outreach and education with employers.

To advance local prevention efforts, the Women + Girls Research Alliance awarded a grant in June 2012 to Shanti Kulkarn, Ph.D., to assess domestic violence attitudes and behaviors. The project’s scope covered work interference and restraint, social support, disclosure, workplace domestic violence perceptions and practices, and demographics within a large organization (30,000 employees). This report highlights the study’s preliminary findings.

(Note: The company that participated in this research has been an early supporter of the eNOugh campaign and is committed to making domestic violence an important issue for the organization. Its name is withheld in this report for confidentiality purposes.)

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Significance Historically, domestic violence has been viewed as a home problem that has little or no impact on individuals’ work life. However, substantial research has emerged over the past two decades that illustrates important relationships between domestic violence and employment (see for review Swanberg et al. 2005). Stable employment is an important resource for victims who may be attempting to leave a violent relationship.

Female victims in particular may have specific expenses associated with setting up a new household, getting a divorce, or supporting children. Victims’ financial stability often is undermined by abusers who may harass them on the job or prevent them from going to work by causing visible injuries, failing to provide child care, or even hiding clothing or car keys. Victims’ work performance may be negatively impacted if they are fearful, overly stressed, or physically injured. Victims may miss work because of court hearings or medical appointments. Their children may have school or emotional difficulties that result in distractedness or absenteeism.

The workplace may be the only place an abuser knows where to reach the victim so he may show up or call her at work. Tragically, a number of high-profile domestic violence homicides have taken place at the victim’s worksite—a place where the abuser had the easiest access. In response, some organizations are beginning to view domestic violence as a workplace issue that requires proactive and systematic intervention.

Corporations such as Liz Claiborne and Verizon have created model domestic violence workplace policies that rely on educating the entire workforce about domestic violence and training supervisors and human resource personnel to respond to employee domestic violence situations effectively and with sensitivity (O’Leary-Kelly, Lean, Reeves, & Randel 2008; Wagner, Yates, & Walcott 2012). Such corporate programs reach individuals who might not otherwise receive assistance. These programs also contribute to making the workplace safer for all employees, supporting victims’ efforts to maintain financial stability, and broadly changing social norms about domestic violence.

To date, the domestic violence and employment literature has primarily sampled domestic victims engaged in formal systems such as law enforcement or shelter (Logan, Shannon, Cole, & Swanberg 2007) and low-income women, particularly welfare recipients (Tolman & Raphael 2000). Very few studies have explored domestic violence experiences, including work interference, within an employee sample (Swanberg & Macke 2006), and none has examined employee domestic violence experiences and organizational culture and attitudes toward domestic violence.

This study contributes to the empirical literature and has local significance. Documenting employee attitudes and needs around domestic violence is an important first step toward providing employers with evidence that domestic violence is a compelling issue for their employees and that their actions as employers can make a difference. Specifically, these data provide a baseline assessment to guide and evaluate the company’s training and educational efforts.

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Method All employees received an invitation to participate in a web-based survey on workplace health and relationships that would help the organization understand domestic violence attitudes and experiences in order to improve employee policies and programs. The invitation was coordinated with news releases about the study and the eNOugh campaign. All responses were anonymous and not linked to any address or other employee information. Three reminder emails were sent. The survey was active between September 16 and October 25, 2013. De-identified data were downloaded from the web-based server into an SPSS database for analysis.

Descriptive and multivariate analyses were conducted in order to answer research questions and detect patterns within the data.

The final survey consisted of 60 questions, including standardized and researcher-developed measures to assess health, social support, domestic violence attitudes and experiences, and perceptions of workplace supportiveness around domestic violence (see Appendix A). The Intimate Partner Violence Attitudes Scale (IPVAS-Rev/20 items) was used to assess employee attitudes on three subscales: violence, abuse, and control (Fincham, Cui, Braithwaite, & Pasley 2008). The Work Abuse Scale (WAS/12items) assessed experiences of job restraint and interference (Riger, Ahrens, & Blickenstaff 2000). The Composite Abuse Scale—physical abuse subscale (CAS/4 items) assessed physical abuse as victim or abuser (Hegarty, Bush, & Sheehan 2005). Social support was assessed using an adapted version of the Social Support Questionnaire (SSQ–Short form/5 items) and three additional questions about sources of support (Coker, Smith, Thompson, McKeown, Bethea, & Davis 2002).

Eight items were developed by the researcher to assess employee perceptions about workplace responsiveness to domestic violence issues. Finally, respondents who self-identified as domestic violence victims were asked to whom they disclosed the abuse; whether that person(s) was helpful; and if so, what the person did that was helpful. Demographic information was collected, including gender, age, relationship status, household status, education, income, race and ethnicity, work unit, and position.

The study was designed to explore three primary research questions: 1) what domestic violence attitudes and experiences employees report, 2) how supportive domestic violence survivors perceive their coworkers, supervisors, and management, and 3) how domestic violence fits into overall employee health (at the time of this report, health data had not been analyzed.) This study was conducted with the approval and supervision of the UNC Charlotte Institutional Review Board for Human Subjects Protection.

Progress and Results Sample Description The final sample consisted of 535 completed employee surveys. About three-quarters of the sample (76 percent) reported being in a cohabiting relationship—either married or unmarried living with partner. The mean respondent age was 45.8 years. The sample was predominantly white (85.1 percent) and closely reflected the overall employee population of 85 percent white per 2012 statistics. More than half of the sample respondents were female (57.1 percent) although women only constitute about 22 percent of the company’s workforce. Nearly two-thirds (63.5 percent) reported having at least a college degree.

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Domestic Violence Experiences Respondents were asked about domestic violence experiences during the past 12 months using the Composite Abuse Subscales. Overall, 6.2 percent of the sample reported a level of behaviors that would be classified as physical abuse during the past year (females=8.2 percent/males=3.6 percent), with 1.5 percent reporting severe abuse (females=2 percent/males=0.9 percent), 1.5 percent reporting emotional abuse (females=2 percent/males=0.9 percent), and 4.3 percent reporting being a victim of harassment by an intimate partner (females=5.9 percent/males=2.3 percent). U.S. and Canadian population-based studies typically report prevalence rates of past year intimate partner physical assault for women between 8 and 14 percent (Campbell 2002).

In addition, respondents were asked about whether they had experienced fear within an intimate partner relationship (see Figure 1). Overall, 2.1 percent indicated that they were currently in a relationship where they were afraid (females=1.7 percent/males=2.5 percent). About 8 percent of the sample reported that they had been afraid of a partner in the past year (females=12.1 percent/males=2.9 percent), and 37.5 percent reported ever having been afraid of an intimate partner (females=57.8 percent/males=10.9 percent). Finally, respondents were provided a standard definition of domestic violence and asked if they had experienced domestic violence during their employment period (see Figure 2).

Figure 1: Percentage of Respondents Reporting Intimate Partner Fear

20.9

Ever Afraid 10.9

57.8

7.9

Past Year Afraid

12.1 2.9

2.1 1.7 2.5

Currently Afraid 0

20 Overall

40 Female

5

60 Male

80

Figure 2: Experienced DV During Time of Employment (n=535) 1% No

21%

Yes Prefer not to answer

78%

One-fifth (20.8 percent) of the sample of 107 respondents (females=29.4 percent/males=9.5 percent) reported that they had experienced domestic violence during their employment period. These respondents reported higher levels of work restraint and interference than the overall sample. Almost half of these employees (49 percent) reported having experienced at least one form of work restraint or interference.

The most common types of work restraint reported were partners’ stealing keys or money (27.1 percent) and sabotaging the car (21.5 percent). The most common types of work interference reported were partners’ making threats (20.6 percent) or lying about children’s health or safety (20.6 percent) to make the employee leave work (Figure 3).

Figure 3: Percentage of DV Affected Employees Reporting Work Restraint and Interference (n=107)

Stolen car keys or money

27.10%

Sabotaged the car

21.50%

Threaten you to make you leave work

20.60%

Lied about children's health or safety to make you…

20.60%

Not shown up for child care

17.80%

Bothered co-workers

16.80%

Threaten you to prevent you from going to work

13.10%

Come to work to harass you

12.10%

Physically restrained you from going to work

12.10%

Refused to give you a ride to work

12.10%

Physically forced you to leave work Lied to co-workers about you

6.50% 1.90%

Workplace Disclosure More than half (57 percent) of employees who experienced domestic violence during their employment disclosed the abuse to someone at work. Employees most commonly disclosed to coworkers (56 percent), less 6

frequently to supervisors (23 percent) and EAP (20.6 percent), and least often to Human Resources (10.3 percent).

Figure 4: Types of Workplace Disclosures by DV Affected Employees (n=107)

Co-worker

56%

Supervisor

23%

EAP

20%

Human Resources

10%

Employees who disclosed in the workplace were asked about whether they received a helpful or unhelpful response. Most respondents reported receiving a helpful response whether from EAP (77 percent), supervisors (76 percent), Human Resources (73 percent), and coworkers (72 percent).

Figure 5: Number of helpful and unhelpful responses by type of workplace disclosure (n=107)

Co-worker

Supervisor

EAP

Human Resources 0 Helpful Not Helpful

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

Human Resources 8

EAP 17

Supervisor 19

Co-worker 33

3

4

4

10

1

2

3

Prefer not to answer

50

Respondents were ask to share in their own words what constituted a helpful or unhelpful response and their answers were thematically coded into one of five categories: protective actions (helpful), supportive actions (helpful), well-intentioned but unhelpful actions (unhelpful), no action (unhelpful), or actions that were supportive of the abuser (unhelpful). These responses are summarized in Table 1.

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Table 1: Examples of Helpful and Unhelpful Responses to DV in the Workplace Helpful Responses “My supervisor assured me that my job was not at risk and was very understanding of my situation.”

“Screened my outside calls to prevent my ex-husband from threatening and harassing me by phone while I was at work.”

“Monitored the entrance to the building and would not allow any strangers to enter. Took me over to their homes and let me stay with them as long as I needed. Went with me to the hearing for the restraining order.”

“Listened and reassured me.”

“They were moral support and kept an eye out for unusual activity.”

“I was interviewed by HR and corporate security as part of the investigation…They were very supportive and helpful.”

“Took over some job duties until I could focus and give 100 percent. I felt their support and knew that I could reach out to them at any time.”

“Counseling with me and my child.”

“Put me in touch with counselors and a divorce lawyer.”

Unhelpful Responses “They were scared for their jobs and their personal security.”

“Most of my abuse was mental and emotional but the one time I told someone about being strangled I don't [think] they could have done anything to help me at that time.”

“Not convince me it could get better and that maybe we could work through it. Offer me another work location ensuring I could still have a job but work somewhere else. Show that they genuinely cared.”

“They are too political. I understand they don't want to take sides.”

“Addressed the issue instead of sweeping it under the rug.”

Employee Perceptions About Domestic Violence in the Workplace Respondents were asked eight questions regarding their attitudes about domestic violence and the workplace (see Table 2). More than 90 percent of respondents agreed with statements that the “company works hard to create a safe work environment,” their supervisor “cares about their personal safety,” and “an employee would be able to get time off of work to deal with domestic violence related legal or medical problems.” More than half (59 percent) of the sample believed their supervisor would help them, and 71 percent believed that their coworkers would not judge them if they were dealing with domestic violence. Two-thirds (68 percent) believed that they would know how to respond to a coworker who was dealing with domestic violence. Only 35 percent believed that the Employee Assistance Program was not confidential. Nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of respondents believed that domestic violence should not affect work performance. Employees who had experienced domestic violence responded significantly differently from employees who had not experienced domestic violence on three items: “employees should not let their personal problems, like domestic violence, affect their work,” “my supervisor would help me if domestic violence was affecting my work,” and “an employee who was a domestic violence victim would be able to get time off from work to deal with legal or medical problems.”

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Table 2: Percentage of Employees Agreeing with Workplace Perception Statement Entire Sample (n=535) Employees should not let their personal problems, like domestic violence, affect their work.

64%

Employees Reporting DV during Employment (n=107) 74%*

Employees Not Reporting DV (n=428) 62%*

My supervisor would help me if domestic violence was affecting my work.

59%

79%*

89%*

My coworkers would not judge me if they knew I was experiencing domestic violence

71%

66%

73%

This company works hard to create a safe work environment.

96%

94%

97%

My supervisor cares about my personal safety.

96%

93%

97%

An employee who was a domestic violence victim would be able to get time off from work to deal with legal or medical problems.

91%

83%**

94%**

If I went to the employee assistance program for help, I would worry that the people I work with would find out.

I would know what to do if a coworker was dealing with domestic violence.

35%

39%

34%

68%

75%

66%

p < .05*; p < .01** Challenges and Limitations This study has a number of important limitations. As with any convenience sample, differences may exist between the employees who chose to participate in the study and those who did not. The study response rate constituted less than 2 percent of the entire employee population. Having a smaller number of respondents is more problematic when examining an issue such as active domestic violence that affects a fairly low percentage of the population at any given point in time. Nonetheless, the survey data provide useful and unique information about employeesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; domestic violence experiences and attitudes in the workplace.

Conclusion and Recommendations Domestic violence rates revealed in this study were similar to national estimatesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;approximately one in five employees reported DV during employment period. A majority of employees (57 percent) who experienced domestic violence did disclose the abuse to someone in their workplace. However most survivors did not tell their supervisors (77 percent), EAP (80 percent), or Human Resources (90 percent). In fact, survivors were most likely to disclose domestic violence to coworkers (56 percent). Those domestic violence survivors who did disclose tended to report helpful responses within the workplace. However, approximately one in four survivors reported an unhelpful response from coworkers, supervisors, EAP, or Human Resources.

Overall, employees perceived their workplace as supportive, especially around issues of safety and victimsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; receiving time off. Respondents were less tolerant about the possibility of domestic violence affecting an 9

employeesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; work and less certain about whether EAP services would be confidential and whether they would know how to respond to a coworker who was dealing with domestic violence. Domestic violence survivors had slightly different perceptions than those who had not experienced domestic violence: they were more likely to believe personal problems, like domestic violence, should not affect work performance; less likely to believe supervisors would help them; less likely to believe domestic violence survivors would get time off; and more likely to believe that coworkers would judge them. Despite these differences, domestic violence survivors had fairly positive overall perceptions about their supervisors, coworkers, and workplace with the exception of EAP concerns.

Surveyed employees perceive a workplace oriented toward their safety and concerned about domestic violence.

The study suggests specific areas for strengthening domestic violence education, outreach, and prevention efforts within the organization. In particular, promising bystander prevention approaches may provide support for employee coworkers who appear most likely to hear about domestic violence and perhaps feel the least prepared to respond.

Although systematically addressing domestic violence within the workplace is not commonplace, best practices are emerging. These practices include making domestic violence an important issue for organizational leaders; bringing together a diverse team to address the issue; engaging external domestic violence experts; making safety and security vital; being pragmatic in approaching solutions; wrestling with tough issues when priorities conflict; providing ongoing training at all levels; setting, enforcing, and reviewing workplace policies; developing creative communications strategies; and connecting with communitywide efforts to eliminate domestic violence (Randel & Wells 2003; Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Leary-Kelly, et al 2008). Finally, workplace responses should reflect what is known about what domestic violence survivors need to move forward, including support, respect, and validation; individualized choices that reflect their situation; information and resources; sensitivity to privacy and confidentiality; regular followup; and access to policies that promote safety and healing (Kulkarni, Bell, & Rhodes 2012; Davies & Lyons 2013).

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References Campbell, J. C. (2002). Health consequences of intimate partner violence. The Lancet, 359(9314), 1331–1336.

Coker, A. L., Smith, P. H., Thompson, M. P., McKeown, R. E., Bethea, L., & Davis, K. E. (2002). Social support protects against the negative effects of partner violence on mental health. Journal of Women’s Health & Genderbased Medicine, 11(5), 465–478.

Davies, J., & Lyons, E. (2013). Domestic violence advocacy: Complex lives, difficult choices. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc. Fincham, F. D., Cui, M., Braithwaite, S., & Pasley, K. (2008). Attitudes toward intimate partner violence in dating relationships. Psychological Assessment, 20(3), 260–269.

Fugate, M., Landis, L., Riordan, K., Narueckas, S., & Engel, B. (2005). Barriers to domestic violence helping seeking: Implications for intervention. Violence against women, 11, 290–310.

Hegarty, K., Bush, R., & Sheehan, M. (2005). The Composite Abuse Scale: Further development and assessment of reliability and validity of a multidimensional partner abuse measure in clinical settings. Violence and Victims, 20, 529–547.

Kulkarni, S. J., Bell, H., & Rhodes, D. (2012). Back to basics: Essential qualities of services for survivors of intimate partner violence. Violence Against Women, 18(1), 85–101. doi: 10.1177/1077801212437137 Logan, T. K., Shannon, L., Cole, J., & Swanberg, J. (2007). Partner stalking and implications for women’s employment. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 22(3), 268–291.

Mecklenburg County. (2012). Domestic violence data warehouse. Retrieved March 27, 2013 from http://charmeck.org/mecklenburg/county/CommunitySupportServices/Documents/FY12%20DV%20Service s%20data.pdf.

National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (2013). Retrieved from http://www.ncadv.org.

O’Leary-Kelly, A., Lean, E., Reeves, C., & Randel, J. (2008). Coming into the light: Intimate partner violence and its effects at work. Academy of Management Perspectives, 5, 58–72.

Randel, J. A., & Wells, K. K. (2003). Corporate approaches to reducing intimate partner violence through workplace initiatives. Clinics in occupational and environmental medicine, 3, 821–841.

Swanberg, J. E., Logan, T. K., & Macke, C. (2005). Intimate partner violence, employment, and the workplace: Consequences and future directions. Trauma, violence, & Abuse, 4(1), 1–26.

Swanberg, J. E. & Macke, C. (2006). Intimate partner violence and the Workplace: Consequences and disclosure.

Affilia, 21, 391–4006.

Tolman, R., & Raphael, J. (2000). A review of the research on welfare and domestic violence. Journal of Social Issues, 56, 655–682.

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Appendix A (Note: The company name has been withheld for confidentiality purposes.)

Q1 UNC Charlotte invites all current employees to participate in a 15-20 minute survey conducted by Dr. Shanti Kulkarni from the Department of Social Work at UNC Charlotte to support her research into workplaces, health, and relationships. Your answers will help to increase understanding of employees’ domestic violence attitudes and experiences. For your own benefit to help you learn more about these issues, a list of domestic violence resources will be provided at the end of the survey. Your participation is voluntary and all of your responses are confidential. You may quit the survey at any time. The company is not conducting this survey, and the company will not have access to any individually identifiable information that you choose to voluntarily disclose in the survey. UNC Charlotte will not share any individual’s responses with the company or anyone else. The survey results will be aggregated and will not identify any specific individual. The aggregated study findings will be presented to the company, the eNOugh campaign, and the UNC Charlotte Women’s Summit and may be included in research presentations and papers to recommend possible improvements to workplace policies to enhance employee wellness and safety. UNC Charlotte will also make a donation to the National Domestic Violence Hotline on behalf of all participating employees. UNC Charlotte wants to make sure that you are treated in a fair and respectful manner. Contact the University’s Research Compliance Office (704-687-1871 or unccirb@uncc.edu) if you have questions about how you are treated as a study participant. If you have any questions about the actual project or study, please contact Dr. Shanti Kulkarni (704-687-7936, skulkar4@uncc.edu). You may print or save a copy for your records. To protect your privacy in printing, please select secure print.

Q2 I have read and understand the above consent form and wish to participate in this study.  Yes (1)  No (2) Q75 I am a current employee of the company.  Yes (1)  No (2) Q3 In general, would you say your health is:     

Excellent (1) Very Good (2) Good (3) Fair (4) Poor (5)

ď ­ Q4 Now thinking about your physical health, which includes physical illness and injury, for how many days during the past 30 days was your physical health not good? ______ Number of Days (1)

Q5 Now thinking about your mental health, which includes stress, depression, and problems with emotions, for how many days during the past 30 days was your mental health not good? ______ Number of Days (8)

Q6 During the past 30 days, for about how many days did poor physical or mental health keep you from doing your usual activities, such as self-care, work, or recreation? ______ Number of Days (1)

Q70 During the past 30 days, for about how many days did PAIN make it hard for you to do your usual activities, such as self-care, work, or recreation? ______ Number of Days (1)

Q71 During the past 30 days, for about how many days have you felt SAD, BLUE, or DEPRESSED? ______ Number of Days (1)

Q72 During the past 30 days, for about how many days have you felt WORRIED, TENSE, or ANXIOUS? ______ Number of Days (1)

Q73 During the past 30 days, for about how many days have you felt you did NOT get ENOUGH REST or SLEEP? ______ Number of Days (1)

Q74 During the past 30 days, for about how many days have you felt VERY HEALTHY AND FULL OF ENERGY? ______ Number of Days (1)

Q14 Do you have any of the following health problems (please check all that apply). Please be assured that no individually identifiable results will be shared by UNC with the company or anyone else.             

Respiratory problems (like asthma, pulmonary disease) (1) Neurological problems (like paralysis, confusion, nerve pain) (2) Fractures, bone/joint injury (3) Genital-urinary conditions (4) Sexually transmitted infections (5) Gastrointestinal problems (like abdominal pain, irritable bowel syndrome) (6) Heart problem (like chest pain, high blood pressure) (7) Diabetes (8) Cancer (9) Severe allergies (10) Depression/anxiety/emotional problem (11) Autoimmune condition (like lupus, multiple sclerosis) (12) Other impairment/problem: (13) ____________________

Q15 Please rate how strongly you agree or disagree with the following statements from Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree. I have people in my life I can count on to: Strongly Disagree (1)

Disagree (2)

Somewhat Disagree (3)

Somewhat Agree (4)

Agree (5)

Strongly Agree (6)

Help me feel better when I am under stress (1)













Accept me totally including both worst and best points (2)













Care about me, regardless of what is happening to me (3)













Help me feel better when I am feeling down in the dumps (4)













Console me when I am upset (5)













Q17 Please rate how frequently you receive support from the following sources from Never to Always Never (1)

Rarely (2)

Sometimes (3)

Often (4)

All of the Time (5)

Always (6)

Friends or coworkers (1)













Family members (2)













Current intimate partner (3)













Q18 Please indicate how much you agree with the following statements from Strongly disagree to Strongly Agree.

Strongly Disagree (1)

Disagree (2)

Somewhat Disagree (3)

Somewhat Agree (4)

Agree (5)

Strongly Agree (6)

I would be flattered if my partner told me not to talk to someone of the other sex.

(5)













I would not like for my partner to ask me what I did every minute of the day. (6)













It is not appropriate to insult my partner in front of others. (7)













It is okay for me to blame my partner when I do bad things.

(8)













It is not acceptable for my partner to bring up something from the past to hurt me.

(9)













I don’t mind my partner doing something just to make me jealous.

(10)













I would not stay with a partner who tried to keep me from













doing things with other people. (11) As long as my partner doesn’t hurt me, “threats” are excused.

(12)

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During a heated argument, it is okay for me to bring up something from my partner’s past to hurt him or her. (13)

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I would never try to keep my partner from doing things with other people.

(14)

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I think it helps our relationship for me to make my partner jealous. (15)

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It is no big deal if my partner insults me in front of others. (16)

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It is okay for me to tell my partner not to talk to someone of the opposite sex. (17)

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Threatening a partner with a knife or gun is never appropriate.

(18)

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I think it is wrong to ever damage anything that belongs to a partner. (19)

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I think my partner should give me a detailed account of what he or she did during the day. (20)

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It would not be appropriate to ever kick, bite, or hit a partner with one’s fist.

(21)

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It is okay for me to accept blame for my partner doing bad things.

(22)

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During a heated argument, it is okay for me to say something just to hurt my partner on purpose.

(23)

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It would never be appropriate to hit or try to hit one’s partner with an object.

(24)

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Q19 The next set of questions asks about your experiences in adult intimate relationships. By adult intimate relationships, we mean a spouse, partner, or boy/girlfriend for longer than one month. Have you ever been in an adult intimate relationship (since you were 16 years old)?  Yes (1)  No (2) If No Is Selected, Then Skip To End of Block Q20 Have you been in an adult intimate relationship in the last 12 months?  Yes (1)  No (2) If No Is Selected, Then Skip To Have you ever been afraid of any part...

Q21 Are you currently in an intimate relationship?  Yes (1)  No (2) If No Is Selected, Then Skip To Have you been afraid of any partner i...

Answer If Are you currently in an intimate relationship? Yes Is Selected Q22 Are you currently afraid of your partner?  Yes (1)  No (2) Q23 Have you been afraid of any partner in the last 12 months?  Yes (1)  No (2) Q24 Have you ever been afraid of any partner?  Yes (1)  No (2)

Q25 We would like to know if you experienced any of the actions listed below in your relationship and how often it happened during the past 12 months. If you were not with a partner in the past 12 months, could you please answer for the last partner that you had? Please check the appropriate box, which matches the frequency, over a 12 month period, that it happened to you. Please be as honest as possible. Please be reassured that no individually identifiable results will be shared by UNC with the company or anyone else. My partner did this to me: Never (1)

Only Once (2)

Several times (3)

Once/ Month (4)

Once/ Week (5)

Daily (6)

Told me that I wasn’t good enough (1)

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Kept me from medical care (2)

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Followed me (3)

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Tried to turn my family, friends and children against me (4)

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Locked me in the bedroom (5)

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Slapped me (6)

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Raped me (7)

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Told me that I was ugly (8)

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Tried to keep me from seeing or talking to my family (9)

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Threw me (10)

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Hung around outside my house (11)

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Blamed me for causing their violent behavior (12)

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Harassed me over the telephone (13)

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Shook me (14)

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Tried to rape me (15)

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Harassed me at work (16)

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Pushed, grabbed, or shoved me (17)

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Used a knife or gun or other weapon

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(18) Became upset if dinner/housework was not done when they thought it should be (19)

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Told me I was crazy (20)

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Told me that no one would ever want me (21)

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Took my wallet and left me stranded (22)

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Hit or tried to hit me with something (23)

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Did not want me to socialize with my female friends (24)

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Made me engage in humiliating or painful sexual acts (25)

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Refused to let me work outside the home (26)

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Kicked me, bit me or hit me with a fist (27)

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Tried to convince my friends, family or children that I was crazy (28)

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Told me that I was stupid (29)

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Beat me up (30)

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Q26 Please indicate if a partner has done any of the following behaviors in the past 12 months or ever.

This never happened (1)

This happened in the past 12 months (2)

This happened more than 12 months ago (3)

Sabotaged the car (1)

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Not shown up for child care (2)

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Stolen car keys or money (3)

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Refused to give you a ride to work (4)

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Physically restrained you from going to work (5)

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Threaten you to prevent you from going to work (11)

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Come to work to harass you (6)

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Bothered co-workers (7)

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Lied to co-workers about you (8)

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Physically forced you to leave work (9)

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Lied about children’s health or safety to make you leave work (10)

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Threaten you to make you leave work (12)

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Q27 Here is a list of behaviors that many people report have been used by their partners or former partners.

We would like you to estimate how often you have used these behaviors during the past 6 months. Be as honest as possible. Please be reassured that no individually identifiable results will be shared by UNC with the company or anyone else.

Never (1)

Only Once (2)

Several Times (3)

Once/ Month (4)

Once/ Week (5)

Daily (6)

Threatened to hit or throw something at them (1)

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Pushed, grabbed, or shoved them (2)

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Slapped, hit, or punched them (3)

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Threatened them with a knife, gun or other weapon (4)

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Threw, hit, kicked, or smashed something (5)

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Kicked them (6)

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Physically forced them to have sex (7)

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Threw them around (8)

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Physically attacked sexual parts of their body (9)

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Choked or strangled them (10)

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Used knife, gun or other weapon against them (11)

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Q29 The next set of questions asks about your beliefs about domestic violence and the workplace. Domestic violence is a pattern of abusive behavior used by one partner to control the other. Domestic violence can include physical, emotional, economic, or psychological actions or threats.

Have you experienced domestic violence while employed working at the company or one of its predecessors?  Yes (1)  No (2) If No Is Selected, Then Skip To End of Block Q31 Did you tell your work supervisor about the domestic violence?  Yes (1)  No (2)

Answer If Did you tell your work supervisor about the domestic viol... Yes Is Selected Q32 Was your supervisor helpful when you told them?  Yes (1)  No (2)

Answer If Was &nbsp;your supervisor helpful when you told them? Yes Is Selected Q33 What did they do that was helpful?

Answer If Was &nbsp;your supervisor helpful when you told them? No Is Selected Q34 How could your supervisor have been more helpful?

Q35 Did you tell any of your co-workers about the domestic violence?  Yes (1)  No (2)

Answer If Did you tell any of your co-workers about the domestic vi... Yes Is Selected Q36 Were any of your co-workers helpful when you told them about the domestic violence?  Yes (1)  No (2)

Answer If Were any of your co-workers helpful when you told them ab... Yes Is Selected Q37 What did your co-workers do that was helpful?

Answer If Were any of your co-workers helpful when you told them ab... No Is Selected Q38 What could your coworkers have done to be more helpful?

Q39 Did you tell anyone in human resources about the domestic violence?  Yes (1)  No (2)

Answer If Did you tell anyone in human resources about the domestic... Yes Is Selected Q40 Was human resources helpful to you?  Yes (1)  No (2)

Answer If Was human resources helpful to you? Yes Is Selected Q41 What did human resources do that was helpful?

Answer If Was human resources helpful to you? No Is Selected Q42 What could human resources have done to be more helpful?

Q43 Did you tell the Employee Assistance program about the domestic violence?  Yes (1)  No (2)

Answer If Did you tell &nbsp;the Employee Assistance program about ... Yes Is Selected Q44 Was the Employee Assistance Program helpful?  Yes (1)  No (2)

Answer If Was the Employee Assistance Program helpful? Yes Is Selected Q45 What did the Employee Assistance program do that was helpful?

Answer If Was the Employee Assistance Program helpful? No Is Selected Q46 What could the Employee Assistance Program have done to be more helpful?

Q52 Please rate how strongly you agree or disagree with the following statements from Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree Strongly Disagree (1)

Disagree (2)

Somewhat Disagree (3)

Somewhat Agree (4)

Agree (5)

Strongly Agree (6)

Employees should not let their personal problems, like domestic violence, affect their work. (1)

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My supervisor would help me if domestic violence was affecting my work. (2)

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My coworkers would not judge me if they knew I was experiencing domestic violence. (3)

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This company works hard to create a safe work environment.

(4)

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My supervisor cares about my personal safety. (5)

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An employee who was a domestic violence victim would be able to get time off from work to deal with legal or medical problems. (6)

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If I went to the employee assistance program for help, I would worry that the people I work with would find out. (7)

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I would know what to do if a co-worker was dealing with domestic violence. (8)

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Q67 What is your primary job category?        

Manager/Supervisor (9) Professional (10) Technician/Designer (11) Sales and Marketing (12) Administrative and Clerical (13) Craft (14) General Services (15) No response (3)

Q64 How many hours do you work per week?  ______ Average number of hours worked per week (1)

Q65 Do you have health insurance?  Yes (1)  No (2) Q76 Approximately how many sick days do you accrue every month?  ______ Number of Days (1)

Q68 How long have you worked at the company or one of its predecessors? (Please round up to the nearest year)  ______ Years worked at the company (1)

Q59 What is your current Relationship status     

Married, living together (1) Unmarried, living together (2) Separated (3) Divorced (4) Unmarried, living alone (5)

Q61 Research suggests that household resources are related to experiences of domestic violence. The following questions will be asking for some financial information about your household. Please remember all responses are completely anonymous. What is your approximate total household income per year?            

Less than $10,000 (1) $10,000 to $19,999 (2) $20,000 to $29,999 (3) $30,000 to $39,999 (4) $40,000 to $49,999 (5) $50,000 to $59,999 (6) $60,000 to $69,999 (7) $70,000 to $79,999 (8) $80,000 to $89,999 (9) $90,000 to $99,999 (10) $100,000 to $149,999 (11) $150,000 or more (12)

Answer If What is your current Relationship status Married, living together Is Selected Or What is your current Relationship status Unmarried, living together Is Selected Q64 Which statement is the most true for you and your partner?  My partner and I earn close to the same amount of money (1)  My partner earns considerably more than me (2)  I earn considerably more than my partner (3)

Q65 What was your age as of January 1, 2013?                                           

18 (8) 19 (9) 20 (10) 21 (11) 22 (12) 23 (13) 24 (14) 25 (15) 26 (16) 27 (17) 28 (18) 29 (19) 30 (20) 31 (21) 32 (22) 33 (23) 34 (24) 35 (25) 36 (26) 37 (27) 38 (28) 39 (29) 40 (30) 41 (31) 42 (32) 43 (33) 44 (34) 45 (35) 46 (36) 47 (37) 48 (38) 49 (39) 50 (40) 51 (41) 52 (42) 53 (43) 54 (44) 55 (45) 56 (46) 57 (47) 58 (48) 59 (49) 60 (50)

                                       

61 (51) 62 (52) 63 (53) 64 (54) 65 (55) 66 (56) 67 (57) 68 (58) 69 (59) 70 (60) 71 (61) 72 (62) 73 (63) 74 (64) 75 (65) 76 (66) 77 (67) 78 (68) 79 (69) 80 (70) 81 (71) 82 (72) 83 (73) 84 (74) 85 (75) 86 (76) 87 (77) 88 (78) 89 (79) 90 (80) 91 (81) 92 (82) 93 (83) 94 (84) 95 (85) 96 (86) 97 (87) 98 (88) 99 (89) 100 (90)

Q54 Are you Hispanic or Latino?  Yes (1)  No (2) Q56 Which one or more of the following would you say is your race? (Check all that apply)     

White (1) Black or African American (2) Asian, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander (3) American Indian or Alaska Native (4) Other [specify) (5) ____________________

Q57 What is the highest grade or year of school you completed?     

Grades Kindergarten through 11 (Some high school or less) (1) Grade 12 or GED (High school graduate) (2) College 1 year to 3 years (Some college or technical school) (3) College 4 years or more (College graduate) (4) Post-graduate education (Graduate degree, Law degree, PhD, etc.) (5)

Q55 How many children less than 18 years of age live in your household?        

0 (1) 1 (2) 2 (3) 3 (4) 4 (5) 5 (6) 6 (7) 7 or more (8)

Q58 What is your gender identification?  Male (1)  Female (2)  Self-Identified: (3) ____________________

Q60 Do you consider yourself to be    

Heterosexual or straight (1) Gay or lesbian (2) Bisexual (3) Prefer not to answer (4)