CANADA
Tentative agreements have been reached between the Canadian Federal Government and a Public Service union that will allow paid time off for victims of domestic violence.
The deal, reached with the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC), includes up to 10 paid days of leave to help union members escape their violent partners — a provision the union calls “historic”.
Barb MacQuarrie (pictured) of Western University’s Centre for Research and Education on Violence against Women and Children believes “it’s the beginning of a wave”.
“I expect that we are going to be seeing many more agreements … and also more employer policies that proactively offer leave,” Ms MacQuarrie said.
Canada currently has a patchwork of legislation that provides for domestic violence leave.
Nationally, the Government has passed legislation allowing Federally regulated workers who are survivors of such violence to take 10 days off — five of those days paid and five unpaid.
The change, which includes time off for parents of children who are victims of family violence, comes into force on 1 September.
President of the PIPSC, Debi Daviau said the new agreement ensured “the workplace is not a barrier to survivors seeking support when facing domestic violence”.
What Statistics Canada refers to as intimate-partner violence — offences that occur between spouses, common-law partners, people who are dating or in other intimate relationships — accounted for 30 per cent of all police-reported violent crime in Canada in 2017.
Almost eight in 10 victims were women.
A survey of the prevalence of domestic violence and how it is impacting work, conducted by Western University and the Canadian Labour Congress over a six-month period that ended in June 2014, indicated that Canadian employers lose nearly C$78 million (A$85 million) annually as a result of domestic violence.
Ms Daviau said domestic violence was not something that affected people only at home.
“It very frequently follows employees into the workplace, whether that’s an abusive spouse contacting colleagues or showing up in the workplace,” Ms Daviau said.
Ottawa, 23 June 2019
