Smoking policies, drugs and alcohol abuse

Dealing with alcohol abuse

Inappropriate alcohol consumption can lead to serious workplace safety hazards. Even small amounts can impair an individual's judgment and reactions, increasing the risk of an accident occurring.

Other problems that alcohol can cause include:

• absenteeism and sickness
• reduced productivity
• unprofessional behaviour, which can lead to lost business

A policy on alcohol

A strict no-alcohol rule may be necessary for health and safety reasons, eg in businesses where people operate machinery or drive vehicles.

Other businesses might not need to be this strict, eg lunchtime drinking may be permitted.

Draw up clear guidelines setting out the disciplinary consequences of alcohol-related problems at work, eg an employee drinking and driving while on company business might be dismissed.

See the page in this guide on handling discipline and grievance issues.

Dealing with alcohol abuse

You should learn to watch for signs that might indicate an employee is having problems. These include:

• frequent hangovers
• above average time off sick 
• reduced productivity
• workplace accidents
• disciplinary problems
• customer complaints

You can keep confidential records of signs such as these to allow you to build up a picture of any problems there may be.

It is difficult to raise issues of alcohol misuse. Try to be sympathetic - ask what's causing the problems.

You may want to encourage the person to see their GP or other support services. See the page in this guide on counselling and support.

You have clear responsibilities for the health, safety and welfare of your employees. You might be liable to charges if you allow employees under the influence of alcohol to continue working and this places them or others at risk.

You can read about how to deal with alcohol misuse on the Acas website.

Subjects covered in this guide

• Introduction
• Define policies on smoking, drugs and alcohol abuse
• Smoking policies
• Dealing with alcohol abuse
• Dealing with drug abuse
• Manage stress effectively
• Counselling and support
• Checklist: what your smoking, drug and alcohol abuse policies should cover
• Discipline, grievance and dismissal procedures

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