On Thursday 24 January, NFDA attended the quarterly EIDA’s networking meeting at the House of Commons. Steve Maule, Head of Apprenticeships and Qualifications at Lookers and board member of the initiative, was one of the keynote speakers at the event.
The Employers' Initiative on Domestic Abuse (EIDA) is a network of more than 260 companies and public sector organisations who have come together, to exchange information about best practice, and to encourage, promote and develop action to help staff who are enduring domestic abuse, or who are perpetrators.
After a welcome from Elizabeth Filkin, CBE, Chair of EIDA, Steve Maule gave an update on what Lookers has been doing to help tackle domestic abuse. He highlighted Lookers’ commitment to help its over 8,500 employees recognise and stop domestic abuse through internal initiatives and clear HR strategies aimed at addressing specific cases. In particular, he stressed how important it is to ‘understand your staff’, especially, in a sector where many roles require a degree of competitiveness to succeed.
Carly Newman, Project Manager at the Kering Foundation, provided an update on the workshops, courses and other initiatives her company has been developing not only in the UK but also in France, United States and Italy.
Math Hay, CEO of Bulbshare, described a portal which is being developed through the Hestia’s Everyone’s Business programme and will soon be available for employers to help their staff deal with domestic abuse. It will contain a number of support items such as a library with news and articles, a support directory of the UK and other HR resources including a practical toolkit.
Finally, Emily Stewart, Home Office Policy Adviser, gave an update on the Government’s response to the consultation on the issue which was published earlier this week. The current draft bill includes nine key legislative measures, in particular, it would give domestic abuse statutory legislative status, create an independent Domestic Abuse Commissioner and establish a Domestic Abuse Protection Order.
For more information about EIDA and to become part of the initiative, visit https://eida.org.uk/