Navigating the Workplace: How to Support and Manage Alcoholic Co-Workers

Home » Resources » Alcoholic Co-Workers

Often, people focus on the effects of alcohol abuse or addiction on the individual, their spouse, or their family. However, alcohol addiction can impact everyone in the person’s life, including colleagues and the workplace environment. Even with the best coping mechanisms, an alcoholic may struggle to maintain work performance, potentially compromising the safety of others and causing disruptions due to impairment. As a co-worker, you may find yourself dealing with the consequences of their alcohol misuse.

If you have a colleague struggling with an alcohol problem, help is available. Recognizing the signs, such as the smell of alcohol, frequent absenteeism, or visible impairment, can be a first step toward addressing the issue. While you can’t force someone into alcohol rehab or inpatient treatment, understanding workplace resources and policies on substance abuse and alcohol consumption can help you navigate this situation. Reporting concerns to HR, especially when there are safety risks, is often the most important thing you can do for the well-being of everyone involved. Accessing in-network healthcare resources or referring them to evidence-based treatment options may also be beneficial.

While supporting someone with an alcohol addiction can be challenging, recognizing the signs and knowing your options can help you protect both your mental health and the overall safety of your workplace.

Recognizing the Signs of Alcoholism in the Workplace

While many alcoholics will strive to hide signs of their addiction in the workplace, there are a few common signs you may notice.

• Frequent Absenteeism or Tardiness: As the individual’s addiction becomes worse, absences from work because they are too drunk or hungover to show up. They may also come in late or leave early.
• Lower Productivity: Often, alcoholics will be less productive at work. They may turn in subpar work or struggle to complete their projects on time.
• Behavior Changes: Sudden behavior changes may indicate a potential addiction.
• Intoxication at Work: If an employee appears intoxicated at work, it may indicate a drinking problem that could impact their work performance. Due to the safety concerns involved, it’s advisable to report your concerns to the human resources department (HR), as this most likely be a violation of company policies.
• Anxiety: Because of their alcohol use, your coworker may appear to be anxious or depressed.
• Physical Symptoms: There are a number of physical symptoms that show if a colleague has an alcohol use disorder. They may have a runny nose, bloodshot eyes, or enlarged pupils. Additionally, they may be so tired that they fall asleep.
• Emotional Changes: Often, alcoholics will experience agitation, disorientation, or paranoia. They may go through frequent mood swings.
• Loneliness: Addictions can be incredibly isolating. Because the individual doesn’t want anyone else to know about their alcoholism, they may drink alone and avoid meeting up with their friends.

It’s important to avoid jumping to conclusions. Whether the individual is an alcoholic or not, they will likely feel upset or offended if you try to talk to them about their drinking. Because of this, you should observe carefully and be cautious about making any assumptions.

How To Approach the Situation

Because you are in the workplace, it is important to handle any interaction as professionally as possible. It is especially important that you don’t enable the individual. Depending on the situation, enabling can take one of many different forms.

• Loaning or giving the coworker money.
• Covering for the employee so that they don’t get in trouble.
• Letting other employees handle the individual’s workload.
• Allowing another worker to call in sick for the employee.
• Excusing the employee for being late or absent.
• Not addressing the substance use.

Many people enable coworkers because they want to help them. They don’t want the coworker to get fired, so they make excuses or do the work the coworker forgot to finish.

While you may be motivated by a noble goal, enabling behaviors won’t help your coworker in the long run. Instead, enabling helps to fuel their addiction. It also ruins team morale for everyone who has to pick up the slack.

Get Help From HR

Once you are confident the employee has an alcohol use disorder, the next step is figuring out the best way to manage it. Your response will depend largely on your role in the organization.

For example, supervisors may be required to report on-the-job drinking to HR. Likewise, HR departments typically have set rules about managing substance misuse. At many organizations, there are employee assistance programs (EAPs) that will provide you with support for confronting the employee. The EAP counselor can help you figure out the best strategy for bringing up your concerns and ways to defuse any negative emotions.

If you plan on meeting the employee to discuss your worries, bring documentation with you. The individual may challenge your assessment, so you need to show them how their drinking affects their job performance. You may also want to rehearse the documentation so that you can present it calmly and clearly.

Stage Your Intervention

When you are ready to talk to the employee, tell them where and when the meeting will take place. This meeting must be away from other colleagues so that the employee doesn’t feel exposed or judged. Once you find a distraction-free space, discuss your concerns. You should demonstrate a clear track record of misconduct so that there is no question that the employee’s ability to work has been affected.

If you are a manager or HR professional, you should avoid saying that the employee has a problem with alcohol. However, you can provide them with support or referrals to rehab if they volunteer that they have an alcohol use disorder. Similarly, you can directly bring up alcohol if you have evidence that they were impaired while working.

Often, employees won’t use the EAP or get help. As the employer, manager, or HR professional, your main job is to document the employee’s actions in case they need to be reprimanded or terminated for their conduct in the future.

If the employee admits that they have a problem, you can give them contract information for going to a treatment program. Additionally, you can discuss the type of leave and support your workplace offers for alcoholism.

For coworkers, there are fewer HR restrictions and red tape about staging an intervention. If you are close friends outside of work, you may want to bring together other friends and family members for an informal intervention. Ideally, the session should be led by an EAP counselor or a trained professional. During the session, each worker can let the employee know how their drinking has impacted everyone else.

When you stage an intervention, you need to make it as effective as possible. In a work environment, you also need to ensure that the intervention follows state and federal employment laws. For example, your HR department may need to see if any part of the intervention violates the Americans With Disabilities Act.

Maintaining a Healthy Workplace Environment

As a manager or supervisor, you must set boundaries about the type of behavior that is appropriate or not. Ideally, your company should already have policies in place about how to handle on-the-job drinking and performance issues. To avoid potential HR issues, you should always stick to the employee handbook when trying to help a colleague who suffers from alcoholism.

If you are simply a co-worker, you may want to report the drinking to your boss or HR department. While no one wants to tell on a friend, staying quiet enables the individual’s drinking. Additionally, you don’t want to get blamed if your team fails to complete a project because of one person’s drinking habits. Until you report their substance misuse, you are enabling their drinking problem.

More importantly, you need to protect your own mental well-being. Dealing with someone else’s drinking can be challenging. You can use meditation, yoga, exercise, and similar techniques to reduce your stress.

Resources and Encouragement for Support

If you’re uncertain about how to deal with alcoholism in the workplace, start by checking the employee handbook at your company. Often, larger businesses will have EAPs and other resources. Your HR department may also have specific tools that they recommend for employees.

Organizations of all sizes can benefit from creating policies about substance use. Standardized policies ensure fairness, and they give employees specific steps they can use to deal with a coworker who has alcoholism. The policy can also include specific resources where employees can go if they or someone else needs help with an alcohol use disorder.

Find Help for Substance Use Disorders

At Live Free Recovery Services, people struggling with substance use disorders can take the next step in their recovery journey. Whether the issue involves alcohol or drug addiction, we offer a variety of addiction treatment and detox services to meet individual needs.

As a coworker or friend, you can play an important role in helping them recognize and accept the need for help. However, it’s essential to approach this situation with professionalism and compassion. Many individuals struggling with alcohol or drug use may resist acknowledging their need for substance abuse treatment options, often becoming defensive or upset when confronted about their habits. To ensure the best support, consider reaching out to HR and using your company’s Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) before attempting an intervention. With careful planning and a supportive approach, you can help guide your coworker toward the help they need.