In June 2025, the Association nationale des Directeurs de Ressources Humaines (ANDRH) — France’s national HR association and EAPM Member — published the second edition of its practical guide: Faire de l’entreprise une “safe place”. Developed in partnership with UN Women France, This updated resource is designed to help employers, HR professionals and managers take concrete action to support employees affected by domestic violence, moving beyond awareness to create safer, more supportive workplaces across all sectors.
Why this guide matters
Domestic violence affects the workplace. In recent statistics, 62 % of domestic violence complaints involve employees, while over one in ten workers personally knows a colleague who has been affected. These figures underline the urgency: good intentions are no longer enough. Organisations must act.
A toolbox for action
This guide is built for immediacy, offering step-by-step support to recognise warning signs, establish trust, and respond with discretion. It outlines how to:
- listen and reassure without judgment;
- adjust working conditions (such as remote work, schedules, or workload);
- activate internal or external support (including emergency accommodation, financial or legal help, facilitated contract termination, or mobility).
Learning from the field: Cooperative U’s innovative approach
Drawing on practice, the guide features the Coopérative U’s award-winning “Programme de protection des collaborateurs victimes de violences conjugales”. According to Satya Goetz Lancel and Sylvie Amailland, their teams responded swiftly to employees expressing distress — sometimes simply saying “it’s complicated at home” — and were ready, in less than two hours, to offer concrete support nationwide.
The role of employers and HR: beyond legal duty
Importantly, the guide emphasises that supporting victims is not a case of playing therapist or replacing justice. Instead, the workplace becomes a structured, safe environment where employees can be heard, believed, and directed towards appropriate support .
Summary: A decisive step forward for responsible organisations
By providing a fully operational toolkit, this new guide ensures that becoming a “safe place” is not merely aspirational — it is deliverable. It empowers HR professionals, managers and leaders to recognise, respond, and support with compassion and rigour. Through collective engagement, the professional world can become a powerful lever against domestic violence — starting within every workplace.
“Faire de l’entreprise une ‘safe place’, c’est refuser de détourner le regard. C’est protéger, accompagner et prendre ses responsabilités.”
“Making the company a ‘safe place’ means refusing to look the other way. It means protecting, supporting, and taking responsibility.”