Taking Time Off from Work to Address
Domestic and Sexual Violence Issues

Developed by Kansas Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence
2010


Your employer is required to allow you to take up to eight days of leave per calendar year to address issues related to domestic violence or sexual assault. You can take this leave for any of the following reasons:

If you choose to take this time away from work, your employer is prohibited from discriminating against you. This means your employer can’t fire you or retaliate against you in other ways if you are a victim of domestic violence or sexual assault and use this leave.

What does domestic violence mean under this law?

Domestic violence means any or all of the following:

when these acts are committed by a spouse, former spouse, a person with whom you have a child, a person you live with or lived with in the past, or a person with whom you have had a dating relationship.

What does sexual assault mean under this law?

Sexual assault includes any of the following crimes:

when these acts are committed by anyone. This would include someone with whom you have a present or past relationship as well as someone that you do not know.

Does this mean I must tell my employer that I am a victim of domestic violence or sexual assault?

Revealing to your employer that you are a victim of domestic violence or sexual assault is your decision. You may have a number of important reasons for choosing to keep this information private.

However, if your employer will not give you needed time away from work, you might decide to disclose this information to your employer. Your employer is then required to give you time off from work as provided by Kansas law.

Under this Kansas law, do I have to give my employer notice that I will be taking time off of work?

Yes. If you want to use this Kansas law, you should give your employer reasonable advance notice if you need to miss work because of domestic violence or sexual assault. Again, the decision about whether to tell your employer is up to you but you might want to if your employer will not give you time off to deal with the sexual or domestic violence.

What if I can’t give my employer advance notice?

If you are not able to notify your employer in advance, your employer can’t take any action against you, so long as within 48 hours after your absence begins you provide your employer with any of the following:

If I can give advance notice that I will be missing work, do I still have to provide my employer with documentation?

Yes. Even when you give reasonable advance notice, you must provide documentation to support your reason for missing work within 48 hours of your return to work.

Will this information be confidential?

Yes. Under this Kansas law, your employer should keep any information about the reasons for your absences confidential. This includes the documents you must provide about these absences.

Will the leave be paid or unpaid?

You may use any paid leave you have available. If you do not have any paid leave available, you may use unpaid leave of up to eight days per year.

What if my employer already has a policy in place to address absences due to domestic violence and/or sexual assault?

If your employer allows for more absences than is provided by this law, you are entitled to take that time off.

Remember: You Are Not Alone

There are many women who have been assaulted or abused; many of them experience discrimination in their workplace because of the assault or abuse. If you are concerned about your safety and want to talk confidentially with someone who knows about sexual and domestic violence, call your local program (see "Kansas Sexual & Domestic Violence Programs") or the Kansas Crisis Line: 1-888-END ABUSE (1-888-363-2287).

This brochure is intended to provide you with a summary of K.S.A. 44-1131 and K.S.A. 44-1132. If you have specific questions about the law, you should contact an attorney.

This grant project is partially funded by State General Funds as administered by Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius' Grants Program. The opinions, findings and conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication, program, or exhibition are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Office of the Kansas Governor.

KANSAS SEXUAL and DOMESTIC VIOLENCE HELPLINE NUMBERS

This table lists the Kansas sexual and domestic violence programs alphabetically by city, services provided, program names and their HOTLINE phone numbers.

CITY SERVICES KCSDV MEMBER PROGRAM CRISIS HOTLINE NUMBER
1. Atchison DV/SA DoVES 800-367-7075 or 913-367-0363
2. Dodge City DV/SA Crisis Center of Dodge City 620-225-6510
3. El Dorado DV/SA Family Life Center of Butler County 800-870-6967 or 316-321-7104
4. Emporia DV/SA SOS, Inc. 800-825-1295 or 620-342-1870
5. Garden City DV/SA Family Crisis Services 800-275-0535 or 620-275-5911
6. Great Bend DV/SA Family Crisis Center 866-792-1885 or 620-792-1885
7. Hays DV/SA Northwest Kansas Domestic and Sexual Violence Services 800-794-4624 or 785-625-3055
8. Hutchinson DV/SA Sexual Assault/Domestic Violence Center 800-701-3630 or 620-663-2522
9. Iola DV/SA Hope Unlimited 620-365-7566
10. Kansas City DV El Centro, Inc. ¡Si Se Puede! 913-677-0177
11. Kansas City DV Friends of Yates Joyce Williams Center 913-321-0951
12. Kansas City DV/SA KCAVP 816-561-0550
13. Kansas City SA MOCSA 816-531-0233
14. Lawrence SA GaDuGi Safe Center 785-841-2345
15. Lawrence DV Women's Transitional Care Services 800-770-3030 or 785-843-3333
16. Leavenworth DV/SA Alliance Against Family Violence 800-644-1441 or 913-682-9131
17. Liberal DV/SA Liberal Area Rape Crisis and DV Services 620-624-8818
18. Manhattan DV/SA The Crisis Center, Inc. 800-727-2785 or 785-539-2785
19. Mayetta DV/SA Prairie Band Potawatomi Family Violence Prevention Program 866-966-0173 or 785-966-2932
20. Newton DV/SA Harvey County DV/SA Task Force 800-487-0510 or 316-283-0350
21. Overland Park DV/SA Safehome 888-432-4300 or 913-262-2868
22. Pittsburg DV/SA Crisis Resource Center of Southeast Kansas, Inc. 800-794-9148 or 620-231-8251
23. Salina DV/SA Domestic Violence Assoc. of Central Kansas 800-874-1499 or 785-827-5862
24. Topeka DV/SA YWCA Battered Women Task Force 888-822-2983 or 785-354-7927
25. Ulysses DV/SA DoVES of Grant County 888-229-8812 or 620-356-2608
26. Wichita DV Catholic Charities Harbor House 866-899-5522 or 316-263-6000
27. Wichita DV StepStone 316-265-1611
28. Wichita SA Wichita Area Sexual Assault Center 316-263-3002
29. Wichita DV YWCA Women's Crisis Center 316-267-7233
30. Winfield DV/SA Safe Homes, Inc. 800-794-7672 or 620-221-4357


This grant project is funded or partially funded by the Federal Victims of Crime Act awarded by the Federal Office for Victims of Crime, Office of Justice Programs of the U.S. Department of Justice as administered by Kathleen Sebelius, Governor of Kansas. The opinions, findings and conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication, program, or exhibition are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Office of the Governor or the U.S. Department of Justice.




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