Lunchtime boozing

Employers call time on lunchtime booze crews

Whether the reason for that weekday drink at lunchtime is celebration or consolation, employers do need to remember that without control, alcohol in the middle of a working day has productivity impact, not to mention safety implications.

The British summer is being kind as The People Bulletin reports on a familiar issue at the end of June with temperatures exceeding 27 degrees Celsius. The sunshine imbues a feel-good factor which understandably prompts colleagues to nip out to the pub at lunchtime.

Of course all employers want a workforce that is happy, content with a spirit of working together as a team. The lunchtime drink is often testament to the fact they can interact both commercially and socially. Inter-personal skills work in different ways when away from the office environment when cliques will be established and disparate groups may evolve. That is the way of human nature. However, when alcohol is introduced team-bonding can sometimes go a bit awry.

The satirical magazine ‘Private Eye’ is known for carrying a column from a correspondent with a penchant for lunchtime drinking ‘Lunchtime O'Booze’ and has been among the Eye's resident journalists since the early days. The name is a comment on prandial habits, the untrue suspicion being that they (journalists) get their stories by hanging around the pub and talking to people they meet there and, by implication, the amount of reliance which might be placed upon their reports.

Satirically, and correctly, this implies that alcohol addles the pate, reduces the power of thought, enhances imagination, creates less than original concentration and diminishes output.

In an HSE guidance note: Don’t mix it! A Guide for employers on alcohol at work, it reports that 90% of personnel directors from top UK organisations surveyed in 1994 stated that alcohol consumption was a problem for their organisation. Most regarded alcohol as a fairly minor problem, involving a small number of employees. However, 17% of them described alcohol consumption as a ‘major problem’ for their organisation. The main concerns were:

• loss of productivity and poor performance;
• lateness and absenteeism;
• safety concerns;
• effect on team morale and employee relations;
• bad behaviour or poor discipline; and
• adverse effects on company image and customer relations. 

These issues are equally important for small and medium-sized businesses and fall into two main areas:

1.    alcohol-related absenteeism and sickness absence. Alcohol is estimated to cause 35% of all absences from work; about 8 to 14 million lost working days in the UK each year.  If someone drinks two pints of ordinary strength beer at lunchtime or half a bottle of wine (ie four units), they will still have alcohol in their bloodstream three hours later. Similarly, if someone drinks heavily in the evening they may still be over the legal drink drive limit the following morning.  Black coffee, cold showers and fresh air won’t sober someone up. Only time can remove alcohol from the bloodstream.

2.     The effects of drinking on productivity and safety. Alcohol consumption may result in reduced work performance, damaged customer relations, and resentment among employees who have to ‘carry’ colleagues whose work declines because of their drinking. There are no precise figures on the number of workplace accidents where alcohol is a factor, but alcohol is known to affect judgement and physical coordination. Drinking even small amounts of alcohol before or while carrying out work that is ‘safety sensitive’ will increase the risk of an accident.

Last but not least, when dealing with alcohol abuse in the workplace employers need to remember that under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 there is a general duty to ensure the health, safety and welfare of your employees. If an employee is known to be under the influence of alcohol (or drugs) and allowed to work, and this places that person or other employees at risk (if they are operating machinery, for example), the employer is liable.

Under the same legislation, employees are required to take reasonable care of themselves and others upon whom they might have an effect. They might also be liable if their alcohol misuse puts others at risk. However, to dismiss an employee as soon as a drinking problem comes to light would almost certainly be deemed unfair by an employment tribunal. If there is a suspicion that an employee has a drink problem, employers have a responsibility to offer help and support, implementing the disciplinary procedure only as a final resort.  The HSE guidance leaflet provides some useful pointers on how to recognise the symptoms and tackle the problem.

Source:  The People Bulletin, www.apbusinesscontacts.com