Catrin Lewis
Empowering our People to be their true, authentic selves is key to Reward Gateway's culture and one of the core pillars of our Social Value Strategy.
We have a range of employee benefits designed to support families throughout the various stages of life and we recognise that unfortunately in some cases relationships can break down and this can lead to abuse, and violence, not just physical, it can be emotional and/or psychological too. The safety and wellbeing of our employees are of extremely high importance to us and we want to support them through any challenging times they may face with domestic violence. We recognise there are several blockers seeking help and we want to reassure our people that Reward Gateway will support, understand and empathise with their situation.
This is why we launched our global Domestic Violence Support programme for all employees. It provides them with extra support to report their abuse, proactive victim protection and financial support.
Extra support to report
Whether fear, isolation, shame, helplessness, low confidence or practicality, the ability to speak up and report domestic violence is taken away from so many people when they need it the most. Reward Gateway works hard to empower our people to live our We Speak Up value. That’s why we’ve established ways to provide extra support to report. Our online Domestic Violence Protection Hub shares the local and national support and advice agencies with the aim of helping employees access advice on financial, health, legal and housing advice.
Proactive victim protection
Many victims of domestic violence feel trapped and unable to leave due to the financial implications and timings of opportunities to allow them to leave. Having time off work to be able to do this while the perpetrator is likely to be out of the house is invaluable. It not only helps ensure the safety of a victim but also any children they may have.
Reward Gateway provides 10 additional days of fully paid leave to our employees to help them to leave an abusive environment and seek refuge. We will ensure any employee is provided support from our EAP provider and if requested we will connect them with a specialist legal team so they can discuss their options and what to expect should they proceed with legal action.
Our People team will make reasonable adjustments to enable any victim to seek the help they need, work in a safe environment and shield them from the abuser. For example, diverting work emails to prevent harassment, paid time off to attend medical or legal appointments to seek medical or legal support and flexible working which can help ensure safe working conditions for the individual.
Financial support
Legal aid is available to support victims where domestic violence can be proven however the waiting time due to the high number of people seeking help can mean matters are delayed leaving people at risk. Being able to fund the programme means your people can get support right away. We will provide financial support to any employee wanting to take legal action against any perpetrator of domestic violence they have suffered.
We gift the money to ensure the employees' safety and wellbeing and the individual is not be required to pay it back to Reward Gateway.
The People team recognises the dangers and implications of domestic violence on any individual. We want them to know we have safety, wellbeing and their future as our highest priority and will handle any incident reported to us with the highest sensitivity.
This is just one of the many ways we support the wellbeing of our people. If you'd like to learn more visit rg.co/careers.