OPM guide addresses alcoholism in the workplace

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is taking steps to identify and treat alcoholism in the federal workforce with the release of new guidelines for managers concerned that an employee may have an alcohol problem.

Alcoholism In The Workplace: A Handbook for Supervisors, assembled in partnership with the Department of Health and Human Services and made available this week on the agency's Web site, discusses the difficulty of balancing employee privacy with the interests of productivity, co-workers' morale, safety and taxpayer expectations. Its authors take pains to emphasize that only professionals are qualified to determine if a clinical problem exists.

"Your role (as a supervisor) is not to diagnose the alcohol problem but to exercise responsibility in dealing with the performance or conduct problem, hold the employee accountable, refer the employee to (the Employee Assistance Program) and take the appropriate disciplinary action," reads the handbook.

Among the indications of an alcohol problem to which supervisors should be attuned are:

• Unexplained or unauthorized absences from work.
• Patterns of absences such as the day after payday or frequent Monday or Friday absences.
• Frequent unplanned absences due to "emergencies".
• Mood and behavior changes such as excessive laughter and inappropriate loud talk.

Once an alcohol-related deterioration in performance or conduct has been identified, supervisors are instructed to confront an employee and present a choice of treatment through the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) or disciplinary action, including the possibility of termination.

EAP professionals are available to help in developing a strategy for the confrontation. In some cases an intervention involving family, friends and co-workers may be warranted, OPM said. The guidelines insist that any such action be overseen by a trained professional.

Supervisors can also find links to internal and external resources for addressing alcoholism in the publication, as well as a brief discussion of the stages of alcoholism and tips for welcoming back an employee returning from an alcohol rehabilitation program.

The directive is the latest in a series of publications aimed at addressing the health and well-being of federal workers, including a June bulletin promoting smoking cessation programs and 1999's guide to preventing domestic violence.