Should You Report an Alcoholic Co-Worker to Management?

Dealing with an alcoholic in the workplace can make dealing with the actual work extremely difficult. With regular mood swings and constant irritability, an alcoholic can drag the team down. You know they need help and alcohol rehab clinics could help them, but should you report the person to management so someone can force them to get help?. It is a difficult debate and one that thousands of people around the world go through each day. In this article, we are going to discuss this issue.

The Health Factor : From a health point of view, it is vital that you get someone to jump in and help. This would make sense because they are not going to seek help from rehab clinics by themselves. You do have to consider whether this is really going to work, though. One of the problems is that you could heap more stress upon the person if you start to intervene. This is why it is such a difficult decision to make. You have to decide on a case-by-case basis.

Friendship : As you know, someone who has an addiction to alcohol does not act like himself or herself. The big issue is the withdrawal symptoms make them irritable and it does not take much to put them in a bad mood. If you are friends with the person, you don’t want to compromise that by saying the wrong things. However, in the long-term it is best to report the person because they need help and they need it now. They may not thank you. In fact, there is a good chance they will hate you for it. In the future, they will come to realise it was the best decision for you.

What about Danger? : More advanced alcoholics may have reached a stage where they are actively putting your co-workers at risk. This is where you do have to step in no matter what. If it gets to this point, it means that the person is now putting others in harm’s way. You cannot allow this to happen and you have to report it immediately. Naturally, you are worried about whether the person may lose their job and spiral out of control. This is why you have to provide support instead of criticism. Bring the issue to management, but do not do it as if the person is a negligent worker. Make it clear that they need some time off to sort their life out.

Many drug rehab clinics take in people who have jobs where they have become a danger in the workplace. It is not always a case that the person is fired because they have asked for help. Employers are more understanding than ever before.

Making a Snap Judgement : The vast majority of alcoholics will not put everyone in immediate danger. Rather than making a snap judgement, monitor someone over the course of a few weeks or a few months. Do not report them straight away because you could be making a terrible mistake. The last thing you want to do is create unnecessary friction because of not taking the time to properly assess the situation.