Workplace & DV

Although I cannot speak to your specific situation, in general, often the reason that a person may tell his/her employer that s/he filed for a restraining order is if there will be a need to take time off from work to attend court hearings, meet with a lawyer, etc. Many states have specific protections for victims of domestic violence that order an employer to allow the person to be able to leave work for the purposes I mentioned. [NOTE TO STUDENT, CHECK IF WE HAVE A WORKPLACE PROTECTIONS SECTION ON THE KNOW THE LAWS TAB 0 IF SO, YOU CAN EXPLAIN THAT WE HAVE IT AND LINK TO IT. IF NOT, SAY: We don’t have information about whether or not STATE has this sort of protection but if this is a concern of yours, if you are worried that your employer may not allow you to get out of work to attend court, you may want to talk to your State Coalition Against Domestic Violence to see if your state has this law. You can find their contact info here:

GIVE CONTACT INFO FOR COALITION]

In terms of other reasons why a person may inform his/her employer about filing for a restraining order, perhaps a person may have some sort of clause in his/her employment contract about such a notification - I am not sure if this is ever done. Again, I cannot give advice or my opinion about what you should do in your situation. If you want to think through what other reasons there may or may not be to notify your employer about this, perhaps you may want to connect with a lawyer or advocate who is familiar with the laws surrounding restraining orders and employment in your state. Here is a link for lawyers and advocates: LINK

Lastly, here is a link with more information about restraining orders in STATE in case that is useful: LINK