As the spotlight continues on tackling Violence Against Women and Girls, ICC Belfast, Waterfront Hall and Ulster Hall have launched a new Domestic Abuse Policy for their team, a move that’s believed to be a first for event venues on the island of Ireland.
The new policy means that any member of their team – employed or casual – can avail of 10 days of paid Safe Leave.
The development comes during the global 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence which runs from 25 November until 10 December 2024.
Clare McCann, HR Manager at the venues explained the move. She said,
“As a company, we are deeply committed to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. We gained our Bronze Diversity Mark last year, we have established a menopause policy and this is the next step in supporting our workforce – of any gender.
“We know from recent statistics that there were over 32,000 incidents of domestic abuse recorded by the police in the year to March 2024, which was the third highest in 20 years. These are only the figures officially reported – we know the unreported numbers could be much higher again. We also know that this can affect men as well as women.
“As yet, there are no regulatory requirements on employers to provide domestic abuse leave, but we didn’t want to wait, so we’ve taken a lead to put this in place, starting today.”
Together, ICC Belfast, Waterfront Hall and Ulster Hall employ 75 permanent staff across the three venues, along with up to 240 casual staff.
Clare and the HR team have also developed an online toolkit of information, resources and local services, for use by any member of staff. Awareness training is being delivered at all levels, to aid with recognising signs, having difficult conversations and signposting to support.
Clare continued, “You never know what is going on in people’s lives. We hope by launching this, we will raise awareness and encourage our people to have the conversation to seek the help they need to feel safe. We know, very sadly, that domestic abuse is happening, and we understand that people feel they can’t come forward. We hope, as a company, to be able to help with this. Individuals may need time to move house, to look after the safety of their children or to seek support from specialist services. This Safe Leave policy will afford them the opportunity to do this, on full pay, without adding any further worry or stress about losing out on income.
“Our team are highly valued and are absolutely key to our success. Event organisers near and far, along with patrons at our year-round programme of entertainment and business events, continually give us feedback on the warm ‘Belfast welcome’ of the friendly and professional team in all of our venues. It’s really important to us as an employer to show them the respect they deserve and to provide the help they need, while they support our vision of creating a world-class stage where people make great things happen.”
For more information on the United Nations movement to end violence against women and girls, visit www https://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/ending-violence-against-women/unite/16-days-of-activism
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