Vodafone family violence policy praised

Vodafone New Zealand is being praised for its latest policy on family violence - offering staff extra leave to deal with the issue.

As of last week, any of the company's 3,000 staff affected by family violence, whether personally or through other family members, would be eligible for up to 10 additional days paid leave per year.

Vodafone chief executive Russell Stanners said the leave would enable team members' the necessary time away from work to get help without financial consequence.

"We know that the impact of family violence is not isolated to the home, nor does it discriminate based on gender, age, education or social status," Stanners said.

"Family violence affects us all, and workplaces have a huge role to play in addressing this issue," he said.

Vodafone diversity and inclusion lead Kirstin Te Wao said the response had been overwhelming with the policy raising awareness about the issue in general.

"It's not just physical abuse which people are starting to understand through the launch of this policy," Te Wao said.

"It can be emotional, psychological and even economic abuse that occurs so providing people with the information does help."

"The response has been amazing."

Te Wao said she hoped the policy would encourage other organisations to adopt a similar approach.