Employers are often among the first people to notice that someone has an addiction to drugs or alcohol. That’s because addictions cause people to engage in behavior that limits their ability to work. They show up late, are too groggy to get things done or make errors that they didn’t used to make.
What should you do if you notice that one of your employees has a drug or alcohol addiction?
The first thing that you should do is to discuss the situation with the employee. If you have a supervisor then this person should also be called in to the discussion. Express your concerns about the situation. Let the employee know what you are willing to do to help. Some offices will assist with time off for alcohol rehab and things like that. Figure out what the policies are where you work so you can let the employee know what his options are.
If the employee isn’t interested in getting help then you need to take your role as the boss seriously. This means that you don’t get involved with the personal issues surrounding the addiction. Instead, you focus on making sure that the employee does his job. Employee reviews and tracking of work performance are important to try to keep the employee on task. Your job is only to make sure that he does his job in spite of his problems.