Beating the booze problem

Alcohol in the workplace is becoming an increasingly important wellbeing issue and intermediaries with corporate health insurance clients should be up to speed with current thinking on the subject. Edmund Tirbutt, co-author of Beat the Booze, spells out some of the main considerations.

Oscar wilde might well have come horribly close to the truth when he quipped that 'Work is the curse of the drinking classes'. Nevertheless, most people with drink problems are actually in work, so employers can't afford to turn a blind eye to alcohol issues.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) estimates that between 8 and 14 million working days are lost each year to alcohol and survey results published in September 2007 by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) found that four out of ten employers believed alcohol misuse to be a significant cause of employee absence and lost productivity.

A policy matter
Every business should therefore ensure that it draws up a written alcohol policy that spells out clearly what employees can and cannot do - but, according to the same CIPD survey, only 4 per cent of employers have actually done this.

The policy may need more stringent rules for those in jobs with significant health and safety risks than for staff in other capacities but it is crucial that it is perceived to be fair. Senior staff must not therefore enjoy any kind of exemption. It should also make clear that any employee who comes forward and volunteers a drink problem will receive the company's full support in helping them to try and make a recovery.

Before drawing up an alcohol policy, employers must decide whether they are going to allow any drinking on the premises and what, if any, level of drinking permit during working hours - some experts recommend the drink driving limit.

Consideration must also be given to what level of support to offer to those with drink problems. Bearing in mind the costs of recruiting and training suitable replacements, many firms are prepared to send seriously affected employees to private residential rehab clinics.
Downing the drink
Providing educational material that makes clear that some levels of so-called 'social drinking' can be harmful can reduce the chances of drink problems occurring in the first place, and many insurers now offer wellbeing programmes with online assessment tools that extend to alcohol consumption. Offering employees a subsidized gym membership or encouraging a healthy eating culture at lunchtime may also help.

'Those who successfully defeat drink problems are likely to represent valuble assets to any workforce'

Effective management training in spotting the early symptoms of drink problems is essential and can normally be provided by occupational health departments or by employee assistance programmes (EAPs).

Once a problem has been identified, the approach towards the individual concerned should be direct but not judgemental or threatening. They must be made aware that they can either ask for help, in which case the company will be highly supportive, or that the issue will be dealt with via the disciplinary route if they continue to persist with their problem.
The key is for managers to avoid trying to do too much themselves and to refer problem drinkers to suitably qualified professionals, although it must be spelt out to employees that failure to co-operate fully with the professionals concerned may result in disciplinary action.

The role of EAP's

If a drink problem is in its relatively early stages, encouraging the employee to use an EAP may be the most effective solution. Drinking is often the symptom of underlying problems that could result from within the workplace, from outside or from a combination of both. The ability of EAPs to offer confidential telephone and face-to-face counseling can therefore help address these issues.

EAPs actually originated as a way of combating alcohol and drug abuse in the US, and AXA PPP healthcare sponsored research, carried out for the Employee Assistance European Forum in June 2007, found alcohol support to be one of the most important reasons for offering an EAP. The research, which was conducted across the UK and Europe to explore perception of HR Managers of EAP products and providers, also found that 93 per cent of employers with an EAP and 94 per cent of employers that don't have one felt that EAPs should offer drug and alcohol support.

'The key for managers to avoid trying to do too much themselves and to refer problem drinkers to suitably qualified professionals'

Eugene Farrell, employee support business manager at AXA PPP healthcare, says 'There is no doubt that our EAPs have helped those with drink problems although it is hard to produce any exact figures because the waters are muddied by a substantial overlap between cases of alcoholism and of depression and stress. We can also help people deal with the underlying causes of stress before they lead to drink problems'