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I agree with Sharon that first and foremost this is a management issue for them to deal with in line with their D&A policy and any performance/attendance issues. In a tribunal appeal in recent years it was commented that the employer had used the wrong policy when managing an employee who had mentioned they had misused alcohol on a few occasions to management and OH (although not saying out right he considered himself to have a problem). This gentleman was managed and eventually dismissed under the sickness absence policy; the dismissal was upheld in part but it was stated that the sickness absence policy alone was not the appropriate way to manage such situations. If the employee admits to problems to management then OH referral may be appropriate (depending on what resources OH have available to them for substance abuse monitoring) bearing in mind that OH cannot prove abuse problems one way or another but may be able to signpost organisiations for the employee to contact for support etc. A clear contract of terms for moving forwards would need to be put in place to run concurrently with any support services the employee accesses.. e.g. how much support the employer is willing to give, where the line in the sand is, what repercussions will happen if the employee fails to continue with support etc. Often it is advisable to have unions involved with such individual standard setting. As Sharon says.. if the employee refuses to acknowledge an issue all the manager can do is document .. and keep documenting but also, if future occasions arise keep telling the employee about their concerns,, offer the opportunity for support again and document document document. But ultimately such cases cannot "be made well by medical means" so to speak so there is little OH can do on a practical basis. On 18 February 2011 11:40, Naylor, Sharon [HMPS] < [log in to unmask]> wrote: > Bearing in mind recent posts........the manager is concerned, the lady > in question has been challanged, are there any other issues? Decreased > performance, lateness etc. If the lady said it was the white wine sauce > (which I admit did make me smile) then at the moment possibly the > manager has to leave it at that, document what she has done and monitor > the situation. It may be a temporary issue, it may escalate. Should she > refer to occupational health I suppose is the question - I think a more > pertinent question is what can OH do to add value in such > circumstances? I think that many get very concerned about such issues > and make automatic referrals to OH so we can "do" something. I am not > sure that this is the best way to go , I am coming round to a way of > thinking that actually robust management strategies, possible > disciplinary action etc IN TANDEM with referral to OH for support > /onward referral is the best way to grab the attention of someone with a > problem > > I had a recent conversation with an alcohol advisory service who have > changed their procedures and will not accept 3rd party referral even > from GPs, social workers. Their new procedure states that professionals > may well, and are encouraged to signpost to them as an organisation BUT > if the indidual hasnt got the committment to make the first contact then > the organisation will not take them on. It was an interesting debate, > and it followed the death of one of our employees with a long > established alcohol problem. > > -----Original Message----- > From: [log in to unmask] [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On > Behalf Of Nicky Johns > Sent: 18 February 2011 11:22 > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: [OCC-HEALTH] Alcohol > > Hi All, > Just a quick query, I would be grateful for your thoughts. I have a > manager who is concerned about a member of staff, she thinks she has > smelt alcohol on her breath three times in the past few weeks, and on > the third occasion challenged her. The staff member replied that this > must have been related to a white wine sauce she had consumed the > previous evening. The manager also reports that this member of staff > consumes several cans of "Red Bull" each day, a quick search on this did > suggest links to diabetes, however the member of staff has not displyed > any other symptoms other than slight weight gain which could be > attributed to the sugar in the drinks. any thoughts appreciated. > > Man thanks > > Nicky Johns > > ******************************** > Please remove this footer before replying. > > OCC-HEALTH ARCHIVES: > http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/occ-health.html > > CONFERENCES AND STUDY DAYS: > http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/filearea.cgi?LMGT1=OCC-HEALTH > > This email was received from the INTERNET and scanned by the Government > Secure Intranet anti-virus service supplied by Cable&Wireless Worldwide > in partnership with MessageLabs. (CCTM Certificate Number 2009/09/0052.) > In case of problems, please call your organisation's IT Helpdesk. > Communications via the GSi may be automatically logged, monitored and/or > recorded for legal purposes. > > The original of this email was scanned for viruses by the Government Secure > Intranet virus scanning service supplied by Cable&Wireless Worldwide in > partnership with MessageLabs. (CCTM Certificate Number 2009/09/0052.) On > leaving the GSi this email was certified virus free. > Communications via the GSi may be automatically logged, monitored and/or > recorded for legal purposes. > > ******************************** > Please remove this footer before replying. > > OCC-HEALTH ARCHIVES: > http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/occ-health.html > > CONFERENCES AND STUDY DAYS: > http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/filearea.cgi?LMGT1=OCC-HEALTH > ******************************** Please remove this footer before replying. OCC-HEALTH ARCHIVES: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/occ-health.html CONFERENCES AND STUDY DAYS: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/filearea.cgi?LMGT1=OCC-HEALTH