Substance abuse: Health and wellbeing - Fix the addiction

January is traditionally the month of sobriety, of new year resolutions and pledges to ditch unhealthy habits. But, while the festive season may now be officially over, according to substance abuse experts, a growing number of your employees will be continuing to reach for the bottle or the pill packet, as a way to cope with the pressures of their work and personal lives.

Georgia Foster (right) is a clinical hypnotherapist who runs the Wren Clinic in the City of London to help workers suffering from alcohol and drug addictions. And it is often employers that pay for her services. While it is usually teenagers and celebrities you hear about as having problems, Foster's typical alcohol-dependent client is "35 plus, earning good money, in a great job, with a great quality of life and enjoys eating lovely food in nice restaurants". She sees lawyers, investment bankers and insurance brokers who say drinking is part of the company's culture. "It's not uncommon for these staff to take clients out and drink two or three bottles of wine over lunch," says Foster. "It's almost part of the ritual of being successful in the City. It's a lifestyle that creates stress and emotional drinkers who use alcohol to switch off, relax and cope with the increasingly insecure financial market."

Drug abuse - cocaine - is her particular concern, especially in the banking sector and the media industry. "It's more of a problem than alcohol," says Foster. "Users quickly become addicted to the quick fix it provides, unlike alcohol which takes time to take effect. It's a nastier problem because staff may be ostracised if they refuse to take it."

Drug problems are not just confined to the City. According to the Health and Safety Commission, some 8-14 million working days are lost each year because of alcohol. At least 200,000 UK workers turn up to the office with a hangover every day. It is estimated drug and alcohol-related abuse costs British industry about £3 billion a year and, according to substance misuse advice company Grendonstar, a substance user is 3.6 times more likely to be involved in an accident at work, 10 times more likely to be late and three times more likely to take a sick day.

Last October's well-publicised Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) report revealed that 40% of employers think alcohol misuse is the main cause of employee absence and lost productivity. Anecdotal evidence also points to it having less measurable consequences - misconduct, harassment, bullying, poor customer service, administrative errors and damaged colleague relationships.

Yet, despite all the evidence pointing to its poisoning effects, substance misuse at work is a growing problem, and 40% of employers have no policy in place to help them manage this issue, according to the CIPD.

Edmund Tirbutt, reformed alcoholic and author of Beat the Booze (right), believes HR professionals simply do not know where to start. "These are some of the most complicated cases HR will ever come across," he says, "but there's a lot of misinformation out there, none of which addresses the problem."

Tirbutt believes a single policy is not the right answer. "Drink and substance problems are like cancers. There are hundreds of different types and many different solutions. It's completely wrong to think there is one problem and one cure. If you weren't sure whether you had a stomach ulcer or cancer, you wouldn't go and ask your line manager or HR director for their opinion. You'd see a doctor. HR professionals should be there to refer people to occupational health services as soon as possible," he says. He urges employers to bear in mind that, while alcohol sufferers in particular often live in denial, "nobody sets out to be a drunkard. Something has gone wrong with their life, just like something has gone wrong with someone who has developed a debilitating condition like ME."

Manufacturing company DMM Engineering has had an alcohol policy for more than 10 years. It was originally introduced to dissuade workers from mid-week, late-night drinking sessions. "We wouldn't normally be looking to prove anything or to take disciplinary action on a first offence," says chairman Richard Cuthbertson. "It would run more along the lines of a friendly chat, enquiring whether the employee concerned has a drink problem. But there is a huge blind spot in UK business when it comes to these conversations and I think that's down to a certain British politeness. You want to seem caring but not like an interfering busybody."

But, as Cuthbertson points out, just because these conversations are tricky, it does not mean they should be avoided. He's seen a definite improvement in behaviour now the policy is well understood and has not had to send an employee home for breaking the guidelines in the past three years.

Simon Truelove, consultant for Grendonstar, manages the alcohol and drug misuse policy for around 25 blue-chip companies. He says his main job is making the communication of the policy as easily understood as possible, from using briefing sessions to posters and pamphlets. "If you don't communicate clearly staff won't understand or appreciate the policy and you won't allay any concerns they have about it," he says. "You have to explain that it's there to help them, why the company is doing it and at what level." All experts agree however that any policy must be 'firm and fair' and if an employee does not take the help offered, employers must go down the disciplinary route immediately. "You've got to make it clear the kid gloves are off and that errant staff are going to be tackled on performance, and if they don't improve, they'll be out the door," says Turbitt.

In certain industries, such as the transport industry, where employees are responsible for the safety of others, policies are essential and breaching of contractual terms can lead to instant dismissal. However, in the past four years Truelove reports a "massive increase in the number of non-safety-critical organisations contacting us". He puts this down to the drinking and long hours culture in the UK and the increasing availability and affordability of drugs and alcohol. "Ten years ago a gram of cocaine would cost upwards of £150. Now you can get it from £20," he says. He predicts that the threat of corporate liability will continue to drive demand for policies too, as employers seek to show they have done everything in their power to prevent accident or injury as a result of an employee misusing substances.

But for Truelove the best business reason for implementing a policy is that it can make employees more loyal in future and save the time and hassle of recruiting and retraining a replacement. He's seen this at first hand many times. Two years ago an employee working for a wholesale business came forward with a heroin addiction problem. He organised counselling for him and after six months he was clean. "Prior to that he was always late and took lots of sick days," says Truelove. "Now he's the most punctual member of staff. He's incredibly motivated. He feels a fierce sense of loyalty because his employer bothered to look after him and help him get off heroin. He's 43 and he'll be an employee for life now. That's an incredibly positive outcome from a bit of effort over six months."

TOP TIPS: WHAT TO LOOK FOR

Spotting the signs

- Alcohol misuse is easier to spot than drug misuse. Alarm bells should be ringing if you, as a line manager, regularly smell booze on a worker's breath early in the morning. As for drugs, people's reactions will differ. Look out for erratic behaviour.

You've spotted the signs. Now what?

- Do not ignore them

- Your first priority should be to help. Have a confidential chat and direct the individual to services available such as an EAP or external therapy

- If your company does not offer any services, then you could help the individual find treatment or consult with his or her GP

- Do not try to do any counselling yourself. You are not skilled to do it

- Do not just carry out on-the-spot tests without fully explaining the process, otherwise you will breed mistrust and resentment

- Do not assume staff are using substances because of personal problems. It is usually a combination of stress at work and at home. Is there a long-hours culture at your company? Is there an autocratic management system? Are people unhappy at work? It is likely that the problem is partly to do with work, with most people today working in an increasingly insecure job environment which requires long hours and a robust management style

Source: Professor Cary Cooper, professor of organisational psychology and health, Lancaster University

HELPING HANDS - WINTHROP HALL PROVIDES A COMFORTABLE, FLUFFY PILLOW

This exclusive Kent-based centre tackles drug and alcohol addiction and only opened last month. Typical treatment is a six-week programme of cognitive behavioural therapy, family therapy and a year of weekly sessions. According to clinical director David Bremner (right), the centre is deliberately designed to offer visitors a "very comfortable, fluffy pillow" approach to detoxification. In fact the style is more as a luxury boutique hotel, complete with personal trainers, gyms and complementary therapies.

"Most clients are high earners in full-time work, under 50, with employers mostly footing the £32,500-a-year bill," he says. "Self-employed businessmen and senior management are common clients because," he adds,"they can get away with having an addiction for longer."

In its short life, Winthrop Hall's experience is that the more understanding and supportive the employer is the better the chance of the patient's recovery.

One of Bremner's clients is a 28 year-old lawyer whose drug addiction was discovered by his boss after he had noticed him taking a large amount of tablets every day. His boss forced him into treatment under threat of losing his job. Although the lawyer was initially reluctant, he has found that coming to the clinic has been the best thing he's ever done.

"His boss is clearly very forward-thinking," says Bremner. "He's made a big investment in training my client. In doing this he could secure his loyalty for the next 20 years. My client will feel more loyalty to the firm than the average employee."

However, Bremner believes many UK companies ignore addiction problems because they're difficult to deal with. Worse still, the UK media glamorises drug use. "Take the case of a model being sacked for taking drugs. You don't see that model being supported tackling that addiction, do you? We need to get the message across that these situations can be handled constructively and also that careers can be over because of addiction," says Bremner.

TOP LEGAL TIPS

If alcohol or substance misuse is affecting someone's conduct or capability it is potentially a reason for fair dismissal, but the employer must be careful. As with any dismissal case HR must proceed with warnings, meeting with the individual and conducting reviews before an outright dismissal.

1. When drafting the policy you should ensure it clearly sets out what staff are and are not allowed to do. Spell out that breaking the rules may be a disciplinary matter, but that the company will investigate it thoroughly before taking any action.

2. Whether an alcohol policy can extend to off-site behaviour is still a grey area. There is some case law that supports enforcing this line, but it should not be done without referring to your company lawyer.

3. Remember, dealing drugs and alcohol is completely different from being hooked on them. An employer can commit an offence if they allow an employee to have drugs on the premises. As such, this is grounds for instant dismissal. However, even here the employer does not have carte blanche to get the police involved because technically the employer must conduct a full investigation before this stage.

4. If people are taking drugs and alcohol because they're stressed or it's part of the culture, employers need to look at managing that in the workplace too. That's not a legal obligation but it's good practice under duty-of-care obligations.

Source: Claire Reddington, employment law solicitor, Davis Blank Furniss

HELPING HANDS - LINWOOD GROUP - A CHANCE TO RELEARN LOST SKILLS

This group, with centres in Sheffield, North Yorkshire and the West Midlands, deals exclusively with alcoholism and charges around £1,500 per week with a series of free follow-up workshops. It states clearly that the experience is not in any way like staying at a spa hotel. Clients relearn skills that have probably been lost through drinking, such as sticking to a daily schedule and taking responsibility for daily chores.

All the therapists and staff are either in recovery themselves or have first-hand experience of drugs through a close family member. Patients are encouraged to become part of a self-help organisation such as AA after treatment. If this is adhered to, it reports a 90% success rate. Unlike Winthrop Hall, there is no typical client socio-demographic: the patients are men and women aged between 18 and 80 and have included pilots, vicars, housewives, students, journalists, doctors, financial directors and top business executives.