MEDIA RELEASE – for immediate release
10 March 2008

Hubbards Shows Leadership in the Workplace

Hubbards Foods is joining the community call to stop domestic violence by providing support for staff who are affected by violence in the home.

Hubbards’ decision to take action on domestic violence shows leadership in an area where New Zealand businesses are known to lag – social responsibility.

Last month news reports labeled New Zealand companies as lagging near the bottom of the ladder when it comes to adopting social responsibility policies, according to an international survey.

This comes as no surprise to family violence specialist agency Preventing Violence in the Home.

“We are aware that overseas in countries such as the United States, Australia and the UK, there is a proliferation of workplace programmes to support employees who are victims of domestic violence,” Preventing Violence DVFREE™ Coordinator Linda Guirey said.

“New Zealand is woefully behind the rest of the western world in this regard. Preventing Violence in the Home is the only agency providing consultation and support to large NZ employers for establishing workplace programmes to address domestic violence, through our DVFREE™ programme.

“Until recently, marketing the programme has been an uphill battle as most employers have not seen domestic violence as their responsibility, even when presented with information about the costs to their business.

“We congratulate Hubbards for taking a bold step and leading the way for businesses to show social responsibility. Domestic violence is everybody’s problem and affects hundreds of thousands of kiwi workers.”

Doug Paulin, CEO of Hubbards Foods Limited, says:

“Once we were presented with the concept of the DVFREE™ workplace programme, we as a company found it a no-risk way to support staff who are victims of domestic violence. Preventing Violence in the Home has given us valuable assistance to implement practical HR policy and structures which have created no added hassle to the way we run our business.

“It is crucial that domestic abuse be seen as a serious, recognisable, and preventable problem like many other workplace health and safety issues that affect a business and its bottom line.”

Family violence is estimated to cost the country over $1.2 billion a year (Snively, 1994). Of that approx $2.9 million is lost in working days and productivity annually. This is proof that family violence doesn’t stay at home when its victims go to work, Ms Guirey said.

With one in three New Zealand women experiencing violence at some time in their lives (Fanslow and Robinson, 2004), domestic violence is likely to affect almost any mid-to-large sized company, especially those with a large percentage of women in their workforce.

In 2007, Preventing Violence in the Home DVFREE™ staff assisted the Ministry of Social Development to implement a family violence workplace programme. MSD is the lead agency within the Taskforce for Action on Violence within Families, which has the establishment of family violence free workplaces on its ongoing programme for action.

(left to right) Hubbards Foods Ltd DVFREE™ Contactpoint people Api Tuakeu, Raymond Tua, Marjorie Kendall, and CEO Doug Paulin. With the help of Preventing Violence in the Home, Hubbards Foods Limited has launched a DVFREE™ HR programme,
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Preventing Violence in the Home is New Zealand’s largest single family violence specialist agency, which is based in Auckland City but provides a range of services both locally and nationally. Preventing Violence in the Home operates ‘DVFREE™’ - a workplace programme specifically aimed at supporting victims of domestic violence and benefiting participating businesses as a result.

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