On April 18, President Obama issued a Presidential Memorandum to establish policies for addressing domestic violence in the workplace. It ordered the Director of Office of Personnel Management, in consultation with the Attorney General, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and other interested heads of agencies, to issue guidance to agencies addressing the effects of domestic violence on the federal workforce.
OPM has begun taking official action in implementing this directive. In a May 25 memo, OPM Director John Berry asked all federal agencies to send their existing workplace violence policies and practices to OPM’s Work/Life office.
Berry noted that gathering this information is the first step of a two-part process. After it gathers all of the existing policies, OPM will issue guidance on the policies which will include recommended steps agencies can take as employers for early intervention in and prevention of domestic violence.
