Ms Julie Mernagh:

Good morning everyone. My name is Julie Mernagh and I am the head of people development and operations in Vodafone Ireland, where I am responsible for our diversity and inclusion strategy. I am joined by Ms Aoife Mulqueen, who is our diversity and inclusion specialist. I thank the committee for inviting us here today. We are incredibly proud of the work we do on domestic violence and abuse and are delighted to be able to share our story with the committee.

Why, as an employer, did we decide to focus on domestic violence and abuse? We are able to tell our story today because Vodafone is a purpose-led organisation. This enables us to stand up for those who are less fortunate than us and ensure that nobody is left behind. Over three years ago we launched our purpose as an organisation, which is to Connect for a Better Future. That purpose is underpinned by three pillars, namely, Digital Society, Inclusion for All and Planet. Our work on domestic violence and abuse fits firmly into the category of Inclusion for All.

To provide some context, we are over ten years into our diversity and inclusion journey in Vodafone Ireland. We want to be an organisation that supports our people through both the highs of working with us but also through the lows they might encounter. We want to support them through all of the eventualities of life. To reach this ambition we have launched a number of progressive policies over the last number of years from flexible working through maternity leave, non-birthing parent leave, our global menopause commitment and just last month we launched our new policies around pregnancy loss, fertility and surrogacy leave mirroring our generous maternity leave policy. We are here today to talk about our groundbreaking policy on domestic violence and abuse. We are proud that we were the first company in Ireland to introduce such a policy and this is all part of our desire to be an employer that really supports its employees through all stages of their life.

Why does it matter and why did we decide to focus on domestic violence? We know that one in four women and one in seven men in Ireland are impacted by domestic violence. Last year the Vodafone Foundation commissioned global research which highlighted a 53% increase in domestic violence during the pandemic and that 63% of victims of domestic violence feel safer at work than at home. Our research also told us that for 94% of victims, domestic violence and abuse had a negative impact on their work performance. This highlights the necessity for employers to develop a domestic violence policy.

How did we decide to address this in Vodafone Ireland? As with any of our work on diversity and inclusion, this required us to take a multipronged approach which included a domestic violence policy, people-manager training and breaking the taboo. By talking about this openly in the workplace, we empower our people to ask for help. In designing our policy, we conducted research on how companies and governments in other countries such as New Zealand support victims and survivors of domestic violence. Our senior leaders were incredibly supportive of this work so we are able to use the policy to provide a generous leave allowance, among other supports. What does that include? It includes ten days of paid annual leave which can be used for court appearances, moving home and so on. It also includes full use of our flexible working policy and now, our hybrid working policy. During the pandemic, it is important to note, we kept our offices open. This was important because it gave potential victims of domestic violence a safe place to go, away from their home environment. We also provide assistance in setting up a bank account, as well as a change of email address and phone number. Like all staff members, we also provide support through access to our employee assistance programme. Privacy and confidentiality are of the utmost importance in our policy. The policy clearly describes employees' route to accessing the support they need via their people manager or the HR department.

A vital part of our work was our people manager training. As part of the domestic violence policy we partnered with Women’s Aid to co-design and co-deliver training for our people manager community. This was designed to empower them to support a victim of abuse in an incredibly difficult time. We also put our HR team through a full day's training and our people manager community, all 130 of them, through a half day's training in the summer of 2019. This training covered our recognise, respond, and refer model to taking a domestic abuse disclosure. It also highlighted the role of the people manager in signposting the way to professional advice and support from organisations like Women’s Aid. In response to the increase in domestic violence over the pandemic, we also ran refresher training last year, as well as open company discussions on the topic in which all employees were able to engage.

Finally, why should other employers follow our lead? What has been the impact of our policy so far? In 2021 Dr. Jane Pillinger, an international researcher and expert on domestic violence conducted a study on the impact of Vodafone’s domestic violence policy. Given confidentiality, we are unable to disclose specifics but that research included several case studies of domestic violence policies in action that showed the positive impact our supports had on the lives of our employees.

I will share one example. The victim had ended a relationship with an abusive partner and moved out however the abuse continued at her new temporary home and at work. Through accessing the domestic violence policy this individual was able to disclose the situation to her people manager, connect with an expert support organisation, and create a personalised safety plan. This person was then able to take domestic violence leave to attend solicitors and court appointments to take a protection order covering her home and workplace. Domestic violence leave also assisted the victim in coping with the emotional and psychological toll of the abuse, while still maintaining her independence and source of income.

We know that policies such as ours can evoke change and make a real difference in creating a better, safer future in our society.