People’s Files

Employee Substance Abuse

The God-fearing, teetotalling service manager who worked for Nancy People and her partner David listened 10 minutes as they pussyfooted around the problem he’d raised. Then he exploded: “Joe is a BLOODY BOOZER,” roared Gus. “I don’t work with drunks! Tell him THAT!”

Nancy recovered her power of speech first. “It’s getting late, Gus. Let’s sleep on it.” As the door closed behind Gus, David said dryly: “So. Let’s add up the advantages of that solution.” Nancy snorted: “Joe will deny everything, threaten to sue us, and then he’ll probably get plastered at the nearest bar.”

But what to do? Joe was the company’s best mechanic. Yet something seemed amiss. His lateness was becoming chronic and he had bouts of “the flu” during all four seasons. Several clients had commented on his forgetfulness. In fact, Nancy admitted to herself, Joe seemed sleepy, even rumpled, lately. She’d attributed it to his becoming a bachelor again. But Gus was sure he’d smelled liquor on Joe’s breath last week. He wanted Joe fired. Nancy wanted to demand that Joe get help for his problem.

“No,” said David. “We can’t diagnose him. In fact, I’ve heard somewhere that your breath can smell like liquor in the early stages of diabetes. And even if we’re right, that’s a really intrusive conversation. We aren’t his family.”

Nancy turned to her father. As the company’s major investor and mentor, the retired businessman occasionally spent a day or two visiting their offices, sitting in on their meetings. “All you can focus on is performance,” said Mr. People. “What you need and what you’re paying for. Stick to the facts you’ve observed. Have them documented, so you can say, ‘You missed work on these days. Your work was sloppy on these instances. Someone thought they smelled alcohol on your breath after lunch.’ Make it clear that he’d better shape up, that this is his verbal warning. The next one will be in writing and after that, he’s history.”

“But we need him,” objected Nancy. “He’s really talented.” David looked grim: “If he’s working half-corked, we have no choice. What if he hurts himself on a machine?”

Nancy remembered something. “I’m not sure it’s that easy,” she said. “Remember that supplier who caught half his shipping department smoking dope on the loading dock and canned them, on the spot? One of the guys filed a complaint, and won. His lawyer proved he was addicted, and an addiction is a disability. We may have some obligations to Joe.”

The provincial human resources and employment people verified Nancy’s suspicion. Yes, she could fire an employee immediately for wilful misconduct or for disobeying company rules. Mind you, Nancy’s company didn’t have a written policy on substance abuse. And if Joe admitted his alcoholism, they must offer assistance: at the very minimum, time off for treatment and reassignment of duties.

Joe got defensive when Nancy expressed concern about his performance and offered to pay for a health assessment. “Then I’ll have to treat this strictly as a discipline issue,” sighed Nancy, outlining the consequences. Still, she downloaded information sheets on substance abuse in the workplace from the Alberta Alcohol and Drug Addiction Commission’s Web site and posted them in the lunch room. A week later, Joe bared his soul. “You gave me a wakeup call,” he said. He enrolled in AADAC’s 30-day residential treatment program. It cost the firm a bit of money, but shortly after his return, Joe identified a potentially expensive production flaw. “The kind of thing a new guy would have missed,” said Gus. “I’m glad we kept Joe.”

Have some advice for Nancy? Want to share your HR challenges? Send an e-mail to feedback@albertaventure.com.

Next month , Nancy grooms managers.

People’s Files is a regular column illuminating workplace human resources challenges. Characters and situations are fictional and are not meant to represent any person or persons, living or dead.

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