The new bill would give victims flexibility in their working arrangements, protect them from workplace discrimination, and grant sufferers up to 10 days' leave.
Manager of the Maori Women's Refuge in Hastings, Vi Pirini, said anything that enhanced victims' safety was positive.
"Having that understanding from employers is beneficial for everybody."
Many employers were hugely sympathetic, but victims' shame about speaking up often left their bosses in the dark, she said.
"We always encourage our whanau, 'Tell your employers because if they don't know, they don't know'.
"They're also scared that if they tell [their bosses], they'll be treated differently, or they don't want to be seen in a different light."
Passing legislation that officially recognised domestic violence in the workplace would help address this, but there would always be employers who didn't like "being told".
"We'd like to think people do it because they're good employers, not because they have to."
Business New Zealand chief executive Phil O'Reilly said domestic violence required a "societal response" rather than a workplace solution.
"[Domestic violence] is only one of a number of these things that happen domestically or in society that have an impact on the workplace, so it's not unique in that sense."
The bill had "enormous goodwill" but legislation would end up being a compliance issue for businesses, rather than a support issue.
"We should encourage open debate ... not just at workplaces but at the football club, and the Rotary club, and down at the pub, and the community groups and at church. We don't need laws for that. They get in the way, in fact."
Flexible work arrangements for domestic violence victims were already "pretty much covered" by existing law and most employers were supportive, Mr O'Reilly said.
An extra 10 days could prove expensive for businesses.
"If you're going to say that, then what else? Is it now drug and alcohol abuse as well?"