Council approves violence provisions

The Sisters City Council approved changes to its personnel handbook, including adding a section about the effects of domestic violence in the workplace. The council took the action at its Thursday, Ocober 23, meeting. The handbook gives guidelines for employee/employer management.

Councilor Judy Trego had requested the addition earlier this month. She said domestic abuse victims often lose jobs because employers grow tired of dealing with the abuser.

Trego works for the Community Action Team of Sisters (CATS), which works to help break the cycle of poverty and does some work with domestic violence cases, she said.

"I've done some research for work," Trego told The Nugget. "What usually ends up happening is if someone is harassed by their spouse, the employer gets sick of putting up with the abuse and the person gets fired.

"I encourage the person who is abused to let the employer know upfront, even if they are embarrassed, and to bring in a picture and photo copy of the restraining order," Trego said. "That way, the employer knows if the guy comes in, because in those cases, the woman is not only victimized once, but twice."

Every year, domestic violence costs American business as much as $5 billion in lost worker productivity, increased health costs, and employee turnover, according to the Central Oregon Battering and Rape Alliance (COBRA).

Each year, an estimated 2.1 million U.S. women are raped or physically assaulted, according to a recent report from the Department of Health and Human Resources. Because some of these women experience victimization more than once, an estimated 876,000 rapes and 5.9 million physical assaults are perpetrated against U.S. women annually, the report states.

The addition to the handbook states that employees should inform their supervisor or the city administrator of any threats they have heard about, witnessed, or received, including those of domestic violence.

Another change the city made to the handbook was to extend the time period in which an employee must work to qualify for medical insurance from 30 to 90 days.

In other business, the council approved dedication of a strip of land in the Timber Creek Subdivision. The land is dedicated by the developer, J. Bruce Forbes. On two portions of land, the water and sewer easement will be vacated with the water and sewer lines relocated.