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Domestic Violence Reporting

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bbr345

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? MN

If an employee is absent from work and the reason they give is that they are being abused by a spouse, how much time is considered "reasonable" for time off under the statute to not be considered retaliation if the employee is ultimately discharged for being gone for a long period of time? What if they are a no call no show and cannot be reached for an extended period of time after the initial report that they are gone due to domestic violence, can that be considered job abandonment if you give the employee reasonable notice?

Also, is the employer required to report this to any law enforcement agency? If so, is that based on certain details (ex: employee tells supervisor that the spouse physically harmed them) or is the fact that the employee says I am being abused or am dealing with domestic violence enough to have to report it?

Thanks!
 


Proserpina

Senior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? MN

If an employee is absent from work and the reason they give is that they are being abused by a spouse, how much time is considered "reasonable" for time off under the statute to not be considered retaliation if the employee is ultimately discharged for being gone for a long period of time? What if they are a no call no show and cannot be reached for an extended period of time after the initial report that they are gone due to domestic violence, can that be considered job abandonment if you give the employee reasonable notice?

Also, is the employer required to report this to any law enforcement agency? If so, is that based on certain details (ex: employee tells supervisor that the spouse physically harmed them) or is the fact that the employee says I am being abused or am dealing with domestic violence enough to have to report it?

Thanks!

There is no standard time. Ultimately they can fire you at any time. The employer is not legally required to inform law enforcement.
 

LdiJ

Senior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? MN

If an employee is absent from work and the reason they give is that they are being abused by a spouse, how much time is considered "reasonable" for time off under the statute to not be considered retaliation if the employee is ultimately discharged for being gone for a long period of time? What if they are a no call no show and cannot be reached for an extended period of time after the initial report that they are gone due to domestic violence, can that be considered job abandonment if you give the employee reasonable notice?

Also, is the employer required to report this to any law enforcement agency? If so, is that based on certain details (ex: employee tells supervisor that the spouse physically harmed them) or is the fact that the employee says I am being abused or am dealing with domestic violence enough to have to report it?

Thanks!
If I was the employer, and knew my employee was being abused, and the employee was a no show and I couldn't reach the employee, I would certainly contact law enforcement.
 

cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
Unless it has been enacted quite recently (and I do not deny that possibility) MN is not one of the few states that requires an employer to provide leave, reasonable or otherwise, for a domestic violence victim.Thus how much time is reasonable is going to be dependent on the employer's policy. There is no legal obligation to forgive a no-call no-show regardless of notice.

Subject to the same qualification, the employer is not legally obligated to make any report to law enforcement.

All that being said, I would hope that any employer would have enough compassion to make some kind of provision in the event that there is reasonable evidence that their employee is the victim of abuse.
 

commentator

Senior Member
There may be confusion on the part of this employer because MN really is one of the states where quitting a job due to domestic violence may be approvable for unemployment purposes. This means if you quit your job because of some verified and documented situation of domestic violence, documented by a police report, or verification from a shelter or something of this type, you may be approvable for unemployment benefits. Being fired for being absent from work due to .....whatever is going to have to be worked out by decision with the unemployment system.

This in no way means that if your employee calls and asks for time off or tells you they're not coming in because of domestic abuse, you can't discharge them for absenteeism. Or that you're required to report to anyone that they told you they were absent due to "domestic violence." I'd say it is sort of a judgment call. If it's a situation where the employee is a good one you want to keep and they call you and tell you they've been held prisoner or something and are unable to get to work for a few hours, or even a day or so, you may not want to terminate. I'd also probably report this to the police. But if they use that they can't come to work, say more than once or twice for "domestic violence" and no other explanation, I'd say you'd be within your rights to terminate them without a second thought, same as you would for any sort of unapproved absence. If they've been injured, have a medical excuse for not coming in...that's an attendance issue.
 

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