Distressing response from HR

[Pegs11]

A good friend of mine is really struggling with life at the moment, she’s trying to escape a very abusive marriage and has a heap of other worries (including financial) that mean she is in a very vulnerable emotional state, and her mental health has taken a massive hit. She has been concerned that it might be affecting her job (she’s definitely very stressed at work) so she spoke to her boss and told him what’s been going on, explained her situation, the domestic abuse, the money worries etc, and expressed that she was concerned it might be impacting her capacity at work.

Her boss took that information straight to HR (without asking her if that was ok), and HR have triggered a performance review in two weeks’ time. They’ve said to my friend that they need to check she’s doing the job to a good enough standard and if she’s not, they can’t guarantee she won’t be let go.

My mate is terrified of losing her job, because losing her job will seriously undermine her chances of being able to get out of her unhappy and unsafe life situation. So when HR checked in with her a few days later, she told them everything was fine now and they don’t need to worry. They said “there you go, you just needed a bit of tough love”.

This doesn’t seem like very good behaviour from HR? They’ve offered no support, no reasonable adjustments… they’ve just terrified my friend into silence and now she feels under even more pressure at work than she already did.

What can an employee do in a situation like this?

@Kaill I’m so sorry that happened to you. It’s horribly unfair. I hope you’re in a better place in your life now.

Yeah I’m doing ok now. I just wanted to say that employers pull this shit more than you’d expect. It’s shocking and wrong, I hope your friend is able to stand up for herself and call them out on it.

why? She needs to stop over sharing at work. She effectively told her boss she didn’t think she could do her

Employees don’t have a duty of care to fix the personal lives of employees. It’s awful that your friend is going through a hard time, but to be blunt, it’s not her employer’s responsibility

Employers absolutely do have a 'duty of care' to support employees going through difficult situations.

A good employer will have a policy for supporting staff experiencing domestic abuse.

To be blunt, you're wrong.

i agree, this passage from google seems apt, "Employers who prioritize their employees' well-being often find that it leads to increased job satisfaction, productivity, and employee retention. It also fosters a positive and supportive workplace culture. While the specific ways in which employers demonstrate their duty of care may vary, the overarching goal is to create a work environment where employees feel valued, understood, and supported during challenging times."