Help! Alcohol

ritaanz

We have a sales tech who has been with the company over 20 years. It has come to my attention (through 2 of his co-workers) that he is drinking alcohol during "extended" lunches and breaks. He works in a different building than I, and it would be extremely difficult for me to confront him. I also want to keep the 2 co-workers out of the loop. Anyone out there have any suggestions, past experience????

Down_the_Middle

I'll assume you have a company policy that addresses your right to drug test employees under the reasonable suspicion provision. It's unclear what your role/position is, but his supervisor s/b having face-to-face contact with him after his break or lunch period and visually observe the alleged problem. Presumably the suprv can be in the area w/o raising other red flags, but this would be my first suggestion. Most employer policies require the "observations" to be witnessed/verified by a member of management, so it removes the awkwardness of the other 2 employees and places it as a mgt issue---exactly where it belongs.

ritaanz

I am the HR Mgr here. We do have a drug and alcohol policy. What my executives want to do is call this sales tech into the conference room and advise him that they are aware of his drinking on the job. What we really want to happen to have this person go for rehab and see if he can't be helped (and saved).

Down_the_Middle

Without credible proof (from someone other than a co-worker), you're begging for him to deny it and you're back at square 1. From my experience, you're much better off if you (or the suprv) can confirm the suspicion and then test for impairment. Since rehab will presumably be a condition of continued employment, my experience has been that it'll be far more successful if the employee knows he's been discovered and must comply. Why would someone admit to a problem if it's entirely voluntary with no strings attached???

Unless you expect the employee to cave-in and admit to a misuse of alcohol at work, throw himself on the sword and plead for forgiveness, I think the only way to address this is to observe, confront and test. Good luck with your decision.

Hatchetman

Make sure of what your looking for...

Is the company just upset that during his lunch period (which I assume is unpaid and off company premises), the employee consumes alcohol...or
is it upset because he performs his duties after lunch in an impaired manner and because of the co-workers report, it is now suspected that the impairment is alcohol caused.

If the latter, where is the superivsor? If he or she hasn't noticed any impairment, what is the concern? Or, you need to find out if the superivsor is even there in the afternoon, or is properly "trained" to look for impaired functioning and knows how to handle it with ANY subordinate.

If the former, I really don't see a problem. The emplyee is unpaid for meal period, is off company property returns to work and does his job satsifactorilly (or unimpaired). Why would you even be concerned if that is the case?

Gar

Hatchetman has a point. It seems to me the issue turns on whether the employee is impaired as opposed to simply drinking a beer during his time off.

System

I'm a little nervous that you want him to go into rehab. You don't want to give him ADA protection because you "perceive" him to be disabled. I'd focus on the at-work conduct (working under the influence) and tell him about the EAP if you have one, but leave the burden on him on how to solve the problem (whether it's alcoholism or just a bad habit).

Here's a funny article about another red-nosed employee who was perceived to be disabled: [url]http://www.hrhero.com/headlines/122101/rudolph.shtml[/url]

James Sokolowski
Senior Editor
M. Lee Smith Publishers