The Christian Science Monitor

Employers can't afford to believe that the devastating effects of domestic violence stop at the office door. And they don't need to feel helpless.

That's the message going out in a public-service ad next month from Altria, the parent company of Kraft and Phillip Morris and a founding member of the Safe@work coalition. The group's website ( www.safeatworkcoalition.org) includes statistics, legal information, sample workplace policies, and success stories showing how co-workers' support can help people break free from victimization.

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Many employers "don't really recognize that domestic violence needs to be addressed in the workplace, and those that do [understand] don't know what to do," says Diana Echevarria, who gives grants for domestic-violence prevention as manager of Altria's contributions outreach.

Homicide is the leading cause of death for women in the workplace, and intimate partners commit 16 percent of those murders, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Safe@work reports that domestic violence costs businesses $3 billion to $5 billion a year. Among battered women, it says:

• 74 percent are harassed while at work, either by phone or in person.

• 50 to 85 percent miss work more often because of the abuse.

• Up to half say the abuse is at least partly responsible for them losing of a job.

In late August, a business in Nashville, Tenn., experienced the lengths to which abusive partners can go. A man out on bail awaiting trial for raping and kidnapping his ex-girlfriend came to the video-production rental store where she worked and asked for her, using a fake name.

According to the local newspaper, The Tennessean, the employee at the front desk turned him away after calling the woman and finding out she wasn't expecting anyone. The man then pulled out a shotgun and made his way toward her upstairs office. By the time police arrived, he had killed a co-owner of the company and himself. The woman and other employees had taken refuge in a locked office.

No matter how secure a workplace is, such extreme situations are difficult to prevent. But companies can take steps to protect victims and their co-workers, says Greg Bujac, Altria's vice president of corporate security.

"We've walked folks to the subway; given them emergency numbers to call," Mr. Bujac says. One employee called the 24-hour security center from an office in another state and was able to get information about late-night local resources.

Brochures about domestic violence placed in the restrooms at Altria have become models for other firms. Managers and supervisors are trained to identify employees who might be experiencing domestic violence and reach out to them gently, Bujac says. "That's the most difficult part in any of these situations, because victims want their privacy."

Some may decline help, but others will see it as a lifeline. Safe@work's website quotes women's testimonies to this effect: "My co-worker screened my calls when my ex-husband was harassing me," says one. "She volunteered to change her shift so that I could go to a support group.... The support I got at work made the whole process so much easier for me."