Each month, “The Balance Sheet” provides questions and answers from experts on a topic that’s important to you as a manager. Please feel free to share this information with other colleagues who also manage people.
Q. I was thinking of taking disciplinary action in response to my employee's conduct problems at work. She entered treatment for alcoholism, so I held off. Unfortunately, she quit treatment and went home. Should I quickly prepare the disciplinary action? If I don't, I think problems will continue.
A. Troubled employees who enter addiction treatment and suddenly leave against medical advice, rejecting further help, sometimes confuse supervisors. If severe performance problems preceded admission to treatment, a supervisor may feel moved to levy a disciplinary action for prior performance or conduct issues, hoping to change the situation or before the employee returns to work. Feeling angry or "taken advantage of" by the employee may add to this desire to be punitive. Would you feel the same way about an employee with a different type of illness? Discuss your feelings with BJC EAP, and develop a plan to manage the employee's performance. Work closely with your human resources specialist or manager to avoid taking an action that might appear arbitrary and lead to a grievance or legal challenge.
Q. Do employees ever refer themselves to BJC EAP for help with alcoholism, or are denial and the nature of the illness such that an organization will face an eventual crisis or incident that requires a supervisor referral?
A. Fear of job loss or a crisis at work that prompts a supervisor referral aren’t the only ways employees get help for alcoholism or drug addiction. Other events in the addicted employee’s life outside work can, and do, lead to self-referrals to BJC EAP. As addiction worsens, performance problems may emerge, but personal problems outside of the workplace have usually existed for a longer period of time. These may include marital conflict, legal problems or family problems, among others. A crisis associated with these problems may prompt a self-referral. The degree to which BJC EAP is promoted as confidential, and the extent to which employees feel confident that they will not incur negative repercussions for admitting to personal problems and using BJC EAP, directly influence whether employees with addiction problems will self-refer.
Q. I have an employee with a drinking problem. I know it because, frankly, I may have a bit of a drinking problem. My drinking doesn't get in the way of my work; his does. The problem is how to refer my employee to BJC EAP without him confronting me.
A. Referring your employee to BJC EAP does not entail discussing his personal problems, so you should not raise the alcohol issue. Instead, focus on his performance issues. Many supervisors mistakenly believe that they must offer the employee a diagnostic explanation to justify a supervisor referral to BJC EAP, in addition to the documented job performance problems. Although most supervisors have an idea or can guess the nature of an employee's personal problems, mentioning them is a tactical error in supervisor referrals. Convincing your employee that the personal problem exists then overshadows the performance issue. Discuss your situation with BJC EAP prior to referral. The EAP professional can give you guidance on what to say and how to say it. BJC EAP can also give you more information, if you desire it, on alcohol use and related health problems for your own benefit.