New Zealand supermarket chain Countdown has shared the positive impact its Family Violence Policy policy has had on teams and is encouraging other businesses to take similar action.
The Family Violence Policy was introduced in November 2016 and has so far supported 28 team members impacted by family violence. Eighty-six per cent of team seeking support have been female and more than 100 paid days off have been provided to teams using the policy.
“We are committed to providing a safe and supportive workplace at Countdown, and we care about our team and their families – so implementing this policy was just the right thing to do,” Kiri Hannifin, Countdown’s general manager corporate affairs, safety and sustainability said.
“Countdown’s Family Violence Policy has not only made a real difference to some of our team members’ lives, but it’s opened up an incredibly important conversation across our business and through training, given our people skills on how to approach and talk to team members who are impacted by family violence.
Countdown’s Family Violence Policy provides access to additional paid leave for team members impacted by family violence, ensures free counselling is available to those who need it, and provides practical support such as days off, changing phone numbers, rosters or transfers to accommodate changes of circumstance as needed.
“We are very willing to share our policy, knowledge and learnings from the last couple of years and we encourage other businesses to think strongly about what they can do to support their team who might be impacted by family violence,” Hannifin added.
