Media release: 30 May 2017

 The Warehouse Group has today announced two new layers to further strengthen its family violence initiative which aims to tackle the issue in partnership with Women’s Refuge.

The Warehouse Group’s “Family violence, it’s not OK” is a pioneering initiative introduced in 2015 and built upon regularly.  From this month, The Warehouse Group will be the first business in the country to publish resources developed by Women’s Refuge on its intranet.  In conjunction it will run an instore poster campaign across its 92 The Warehouse stores that will help support employees who may be experiencing family violence.

The Warehouse CEO Pejman Okhovat says he welcomes the new resources, which feature crucial information on the warning signs of domestic violence, how to stay safe, how to get help and how to help others. It also features a section that informs staff about how The Warehouse Group can support them, including details of their comprehensive family violence policy.

“The posters will be placed in team member only areas and are designed to encourage both men and women to stop and think about their relationships and direct them to where to find information and get help,” says Mr Okhovat.

“We recognise that we can play a significant role in helping to reduce family violence in our country. Our 12,000 employees are representative of the New Zealand population and if we can support them, then hopefully together we can make a real difference.”

“While the topic is highly sensitive and confidential for people, we hope that by raising the topic, people will feel empowered to seek help and we encourage other New Zealand businesses to do the same for their staff,” says Mr Okhovat.

Ruth MacIntyre-Bardell of the Women’s Refuge says they hope employee programmes like The Warehouse Group example will help educate men and women further.

“Women’s Refuge believe making information accessible to employees will further help educate women and men that it’s not easy to confront the fact that their relationship might be abusive. But the sooner they do, the better the outcome will be, for everyone,” says Ruth.

The materials, developed with financial support from the Tindall Foundation, can also be used by other companies wanting to provide support to their staff.

The introduction of the new resources coincides with the start of The Warehouse’s Women’s Refuge nationwide counter appeal (from 31 May to 20 June) in which customers can purchase a Women’s Refuge key ring for $2. Proceeds from this year’s campaign will go towards the Kids in the Middle – a Women’s Refuge initiative that will help more than 20,000 children across New Zealand rebuild a life free from violence through one-on-one advocacy and services and the delivery of child focused family violence programmes.

The Warehouse Group was the first organisation in New Zealand to share its policy and training materials on the family violence issue with other businesses in the country.  It was also the first business to be accredited by the White Ribbon business programme which recognises New Zealand businesses which have policies and programmes in place to promote family violence prevention and offer support to those who might be affected.

Background information: The Warehouse Group’s Family Violence, it’s Not OK programme

• In New Zealand every 5.5 minutes the police are called to a domestic violence related incident, one in three women will experience domestic violence at some point in their lifetime and 10 men, 13 women and nine children are killed each year as a result of family violence. If we translate these statistics into the impact on The Warehouse Group’s team of over 12,000, there are 2400 women and 300 men currently working for us who could experience family violence at some point in their lives.
• “Family Violence, it’s not OK” is a multi-layered sustainable programme for staff of The Warehouse Group which includes: a website which allows victims up to 10 days paid leave per year – offered in strict confidence, for medical appointments, legal proceedings or other activities related to family violence to enable victims to take positive steps to protect themselves and their families; unpaid leave to support a person who is a victim of family violence and who may need to be accompanied to court, a medical provider, or to care for children. The initiative also offers mechanisms to ensure that victims of violence have flexibility and protection from harassment at work; and the company enables those who are users of violence to get unpaid leave to use to get help.
• The Warehouse Group runs an extensive training programme using material developed in conjunction with Women’s Refuge, to educate leaders in the organisation about the signs, impacts and ways to get support for family violence.
• The Warehouse Group offers all New Zealanders a shielded way of seeking information from Women’s Refuge online under the guise of browsing The Warehouse’s website.
• The Warehouse Group’s “Family Violence, it’s is not ok” initiative won the Corporate Social Responsibility award and was a finalist in the The Christian Dahmen Memorial Award for HR Innovation Award at the 2017 Human Resources Institute of New Zealand Awards.

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