How to help an employee with a drinking problem

An employee has come forward with a drinking problem. Here’s how you act

BY John Hilton 21 Oct 2020

Being under the influence of alcohol in the workplace can lead to poor concentration, risk-taking behaviour, carelessness, and errors in judgement.

It not only impacts work performance and productivity, but also results in higher rates of injuries, absenteeism and, in some cases, fatalities.

Worryingly, research has found that people who work have a higher rate of problem drinking than the general population.

In New Zealand, it's estimated around 20% of adult full-time workers are problem drinkers, compared to around 15% of the overall adult population.

This comes at a major cost to the economy too, as the approximate price New Zealand businesses pay for alcohol-related lost productivity is estimated at around $500 million each year.

To address the issue, employers must first be proactive in preventing any accidents or uncovering any problems before they escalate.

This means employers must ensure they have a robust drug and alcohol policy, particularly one that allows for the full suite of testing on a random post-incident, according to Charlotte Parkhill, partner at Dentons Kensington Swan.

Parkhill said the policy should clearly state what is acceptable in the workplace, and what is not, and the consequences of not following the requirements of the policy. The overall aim of the policy should be prevention, education, training and rehabilitation.

“With office environments, there will likely be a provision in the employment agreement or on a policy which says you are not to come to work under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and it will state what will happen if you do.”

Parkhill added that the full suite of testing would usually identify somebody who has an alcohol problem in the workplace.

According to the New Zealand Government, testing may be reasonable if it is done with a view to protecting the safety of employees or the general public. For example:

if the employee works in a safety sensitive area
if the employee’s work directly impacts the safety of others (eg other employees or the public).

Parkhill added that if somebody is turning up under the influence then one option is to attempt to rehabilitate them.

Many employers refer employees to an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) or other counselling services where alcohol or drugs problem are suspected. However, if specialist EAP services are not available, other professionals (such as general practitioners or addiction specialists) could be approached.

The aim should be to have the employee return to full and normal work as quickly as possible, consistent with the needs of the treatment and rehabilitation programme.

The employee may remain at work while receiving treatment assistance. If this happens, the employer should make sure its expectations for the employee’s work performance and behaviour are fully understood.

Parkhill said that if the employee is denying there is a problem and/or saying it is unreasonable to take any action, then the employer may be in a situation where they can look at dismissal.

“You need to follow a fair process to do that. The employer is always obliged to look at all the circumstances before taking any action,” she said.

“Most employers will have a process to follow, whether to rehabilitate or not.

“With somebody in the engineering space - who is designing complex structures - it might be that the employer is less inclined to assist with the rehabilitation program given the risks are so high. For somebody in that role, a failure to rehabilitate might have dire consequences.”