A Manager Helps an Employee Address His Excessive and Irresponsible Drinking After a Shattered Relationship
Monday, February 8th, 2010Russ dropped out of high school when he was fifteen years old and eventually got a job at a local paint manufacturer. For the past seven-and-a-half years he has gained a reputation as a hard-working and diligent employee who almost never calls off work due to illness.
Nearly seven-and-a-half months ago he started going out with a young lady named Emma. They appeared to get along real well right away and gave people the impression that they had a lot of good times with one another.
The Heavy and Excessive Drinking Begins
When Russ met Emma, he almost never drank. This totally changed when Emma and Russ started dating on a fairly usual basis. In fact, their relationship was going fine until Emma called Russ one night around 4 AM and said that she had to breakup and that she couldn’t tell him the reasons for her decision at that moment.
The next morning before he went to work, Russ drove to Emma’s apartment and found out almost immediately that she had already moved out. Russ took this awfully hard. If truth be told, he was dismayed because they seemed to be getting along so very well.
When Excessive and Abusive Drinking Leads to Work Problems
So what did Russ do about Emma? Instead of letting himself go through the grieving process, he started getting intoxicated nearly every night. It didn’t take long for his coworkers or for his manager to notice that Russ was coming to work late at least once per week and that he constantly called off sick. What is more, some of his fellow employees made an appointment with staff in Human Resources Department and stated that Russ continually came to work with a noticeable smell of alcohol on his clothes or on his breath.
Russ’s manager heard about all of this from Human Resources and also from Russ’s fellow employees. So one Tuesday afternoon he called Russ into his office. He told Russ that he had recently noticed a profound change in his behavior, work performance, attendance, and in his sick time.
When a Supervison Can Encourage a Worker to Get Help For His or Her Excessive and Hazardous Drinking
Russ’s boss also mentioned that a number of his co-workers reported him to Human Resources because he had been coming to work with the strong odor of alcohol. His supervisor then stated the following: “Russ, your fellow employees are not reporting you to the HR Department to get you into trouble or because they dislike you but instead because they care about you. And I care too. I don’t want to interfere with your life outside of work, but it is apparent that you are displaying some of the characteristic symptoms and signs of a drinking problem. As a result, I want you to go and see a psychologist in the employee’s assistance program to discuss your drinking circumstance.”
“Russ, I’m no healthcare practitioner or a psychiatrist, but I have seen more than a few of my relatives and friends go through some extremely bad alcohol side effects. Not only this but I have also seen the signs of alcoholism first-hand in my own family. When people suffer from problems with drinking, these issues not only affect the drinker, but they also make an impact on his or her co-workers, relatives, neighbors, family, and friends.”
Russ admired his manager quite a lot and consequently followed through with his suggestion the next work day when he called and scheduled an appointment with a healthcare professional in the employee’s assistance program.
Russ is Still Depressed But Feels Some Hope That He Will Get Back on Track With His Life
Although Russ didn’t automatically feel any better or less depressed about the sorrow he still has about Emma, he felt some reassurance knowing that his supervisor and his fellow employees wanted what’s best for him and cared about him. This gave him some psychological relief for the first time in quite a few weeks and he truthfully felt some hope that he would get his life back on track.
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