For Immediate Release: 7/17/07

Naples, FL – The Shelter for Abused Women & Children heralds the enactment of the Florida Domestic Violence Leave Act requiring Florida employers with more than 50 employees to provide up to three working days of leave per year for domestic violence victims to address critical issues such as their safety and wellbeing.

“This law clearly is a step forward for victims of domestic violence,” explains Shelter Director of Programs Jan Christiansen. “It creates a framework for how businesses should respond to domestic violence, as well as providing Florida’s nearly 120,000 annual victims of intimate partner abuse a few days of needed time to address the safety, legal and medical issues they face as they try to rebuild their lives free from abuse.”

Effective July 1, 2007, the Domestic Violence Leave Act, Section 741.313, Fla. Stat., states that Florida businesses with 50 or more employees are required to provide victims of domestic violence three days of leave in a 12-month period, without fear of loosing their jobs, to seek an injunction for protection; access medical care and/or mental health counseling; obtain services from a victim-services organization; secure their home from the abuser or escape to safety; and seek legal assistance or attend/prepare for court-related proceedings arising from the abuse.

Additionally, the law applies to employees as well as a family or household member of the employee who is being abused. The affected employee must request this time off in advance except in cases of imminent danger to the health or safety of the employee or the family/household member being abused.

According to the Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence (FCADV), an umbrella agency that advocates for the rights of domestic violence victims throughout Florida and supports the State’s 41 certified domestic violence centers, including the Shelter for Abused Women & Children, the employees will be required to use all their applicable vacation, personal and/or sick leave first, unless their employer waives this requirement.

By law, private employers must keep all information related to the employee’s leave confidential. Public agencies must keep all personal identifying information related to the employee’s request confidential. This statute also “prohibits employers from interfering with or denying the employee’s exercise to her right to take the leave, and from retaliating or discriminating against an employee who takes such leave.”

Research details that in the United States:

• One women is physically assaulted by an intimate partner every 15 seconds
• Between 1.5 and 3 million women are victims of domestic violence each year
• More than 3 women are murdered by their husbands or boyfriends each day
• An average of 3 women per week are killed at their workplace by an intimate partner
• Domestic violence costs employers between $3 and $13 billion annually

For more information on the Shelter for Abused Women & Children, please call 239-775-3862, or visit us online at www.naplesshelter.org. To learn more about the Florida Domestic Violence Leave Act, please contact the Florida Coalition of Domestic Violence at www.fcadv.org

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The Shelter for Abused Women & Children helps adult and child victims and survivors of domestic violence through safety, intervention and support; educates the public about domestic violence; and advocates for social change against domestic violence. For more information, please contact us at 239-775-3862, or visit us online at: www.naplesshelter.org

Media Contact: Mary Ann T. Green, mgreen@naplesshelter.org, 239-775-3862, ext. 211