In 2001, a report on Domestic Abuse (DA) was prepared by World Bank Volunteer Services, now WBFN, for former President and Mrs. Wolfensohn and Human Resources (HR) to detail findings of domestic abuse within the World Bank (WBG) community. The report included institutional obstacles encountered by staff and spouses/partners when in abusive relationships. A WBG DA Prevention Task Force (includes WBFN volunteers) refines and implements policies to minimize the impact of any attempts by an employee to exploit institutional immunities and privileges in private disputes. A Domestic Relations Guide found on the WBG’s internal/external website provides detailed and useful information for spouses, lawyers and advocates of the WBG.
In 2009, the following obstacles were removed:
SR 3.06 Family Obligations.
2.04 In February 2009, the policy regarding the time period for an employee to respond to non-compliance of a court order for spouse and/or child support was decreased. If an employee does not comply with court-ordered payments for support, the WBG Legal Department will inform the Ethics and Business Conduct office who will contact the employee to encourage compliance within five (5) business days. If the employee fails to comply after the time allocated, the Bank may decide to deduct the amount due from the staff’s salary in accordance with the court order. The former 30 day period often presented considerable financial hardship to the spouse, especially if there were children.
2.05 In subsequent complaints for non-compliance the time is reduced to three (3) business days.
2.08 When the WBG is presented with two or more divorce decrees from different jurisdictions regarding the same staff member and spouse, the Manager of the HR Service Center may decide to not take further action until it receives evidence from a court of competent jurisdiction adjucating matters in the dispute.
SR 2.01 Confidentiality of Personnel Information.
On October 30, 2009, the WBG removed the ability for an employee to block access to salary, benefits and pension information. This meant that in difficult divorces or cases of abuse the spouse would have to issue a court ordered subpoena against the employee to provide the information him/herself by a certain date. This process was very cumbersome and could involve long delays for all parties involved, including the WBG.
The revision allows a spouse or registered domestic partner (past and present) to have access to the salary, benefit and pension information of their spouse or partner without informing the staff. One must contact the Human Resources Service Center (hrservicecenter@worldbank.org) directly to confidentially obtain this information. The WBG is obliged to provide the information within 5 business days after receiving a written or emailed request.
For further information on these issues, visit:
Annemarie Brink Olsen