April is National Alcohol Awareness Month, and although the month is nearly behind us for 2014, there’s still reason to spread awareness of alcohol abuse.
Addiction is a disease that affects not just the addict, but also the spouse, co-workers, friends, and children of the addict. According the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there are approximately 88,000 deaths attributed to alcohol use each year in the U.S., making excessive alcohol use the third leading lifestyle-related cause of death. In 2006, there were more than 1.2 million emergency room visits and 2.7 million physician office visits due to alcohol abuse, costing more than $223.5 billion.
Health Risks
Addiction kills. And although this simple fact is known, it isn’t enough to stop those addicted to alcohol from drinking. It causes both short-term and long-term effects that impact their personal relationships, their professional careers, and their health.
- Unable to limit the amount of alcohol consumed
- Strong urges to drink
- Has developed a high tolerance to alcohol, so more is needed to feel the euphoric effects
- Experiences physical withdrawal symptoms, such as sweating, nausea, and shaking
- Irritability
- Loss of interest in activities and hobbies that once brought joy
- Sudden emotional outbursts, such as anger
- Tremors, convulsions, or uncontrolled shaking
- Profuse sweating even in cold conditions
- Extreme agitation or anxiety
- Persistent insomnia
- Nausea or vomiting
- Seizures
- Hallucinations
- Neurological problems, including dementia, stroke, and neuropathy
- Cardiovascular problems, including cardiomyopathy, atrial fibrillation, hypertension, and myocardial infarction
- Cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, liver, colon, and breast
- Liver diseases, including hepatitis and cirrhosis
- Psychiatric problems, including depression, anxiety, and suicide
- Social problems
If you work with someone you suspect is battling alcoholism, know treatment can only begin when the person accepts he/she has a problem. Even when his/her career is threatened, the person will continue to decline until he/she decides help is needed. Everyone is different, and each addict’s absolute bottom varies. However, when someone is ready to change his/her life, treatment is readily available.
Some states require that employers offer treatment options for addicted employees. Check with your state for legislation.
Employee Intervention
Confronting an employee about suspected alcohol abuse should be handled delicately. Intervention can work if done correctly—and the employee is willing to recognize he/she has a problem and accept support. Yet, it shouldn’t be main objective to help lead them to sobriety. Your main concern is the employee's job performance and the risks he'she present to your school.
Before starting any conversation, document all instances where the job performance was affected including all absentees, early departures, and late arrivals. You may also wish to document emotional changes, such as conflicts with other employees and sudden emotional outbursts, like crying fits or anger. If the employee is a teacher, observe and document how he/she interacts with students—are your students aware of something askew?
With documentation collected, schedule a meeting or employee evaluation. Experts suggest avoiding speculation of alcohol abuse. Instead, keep focused on the job performance and the documentation you’ve obtained. Outline the areas of concern you need to see immediate improvement upon and set up a follow-up conversation/meeting in a few weeks. However, if the employee discloses alcohol addiction, scheduling a second meeting might not be an immediate necessary. Depending on your school’s policy, you might instead offer treatment options (if you offer health insurance, your provider should have a list of available resources that are covered), extended time off to seek his/her own treatment alternatives using Family Medical Leave, or a paid administrative leave.
If the employee promises to improve, continue to document his/her job performance over the weeks until your next meeting. If his/her performance is still not up to your school’s standards and incidents continue to arise, ask the employee again if there is anything you can do to assist. Set firm deadlines for needed improvement, and at this stage inform him/her that discipline actions will be taken for failure to improve his/her performance.
Constant documentation and written warnings should be issued for all incidents that go against your school’s policy.
Under the Federal Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), recovering addicts (alcoholism, drugs) are protected, however those in active addiction are not—and in no way should substance abuse be tolerated on your campus. If at any time you suspect an employee is intoxicated, they should be removed from campus immediately. At this point, the employee should be put on leave until an investigation can be completed and your School Head comes to a final decision concerning further action.
Additional ISM articles of interest
ISM Monthly Update for HR Vol. 7 No. 6 Ask Michael
