Divorce & the Workplace: Studies Detail How Breakups May Carry Over Into Work
A divorce can affect may areas of your life, including work productivity according to studies cited in an interesting story in the Detroit Free Press. The story cites a 2006 study entitled “Marriage & Family Wellness: Corporate America’s Business?” by Minnesota-based Life Innovations. This study specifically depicts how divorces harm the workplace. According to that study, stress from relationship-related issues annually cost companies $300 billion and employees lose on average more than 168 hours of work in the year after divorce.
These numbers are especially interesting considering that more than 50% of marriages in the United States are ending in divorce. There were 34,747 Michigan divorces in 2005 alone, according to a statistic cited in the story. Going through a divorce may affect work productivity in various ways since the divorce process involves a lot of work in itself, from hiring a qualified divorce lawyer to making child care arrangements to doing much more.
Since divorces may not have set time tables, the story says that this stress could translate to the workplace and not only affect the soon-to-be divorcee but also frustrated managers and fellow co-workers stuck with more work. The Detroit Free Press story suggests that fellow workers be sympathetic to recent divorcees, who must also remember that they still have a job to do despite the end of their marriage.
