Russ got suspended from high school when he was seventeen years old and eventually got a job at a local food processing plant. For the last nine years he has gained a reputation as a hard-working and reliable person who rarely calls off work due to illness.
Around five months ago he started dating a woman named Emma. They appeared to hit it off right away and looked like they had a lot of good times together.
The Irresponsible and Abusive Drinking Begins
When Russ met Emma, he rarely drank. This circumstance changed when Emma and Russ started seeing each other on a fairly usual basis. If truth be told, their relationship was going fine until Emma called Russ one night approximately 3:30 AM and said that she had to call off their relationship and that she couldn’t tell him what was going on at that time.
The next morning before he went to work, Russ drove to Emma’s apartment and immediately discovered that Emma had already moved out. Russ took this exceedingly hard. In point of fact, he was dismayed because they seemed to be getting along so well.
When Irresponsible and Excessive Drinking Leads to Work Problems
So what did Russ do? Rather than working through his pain and sorrow, he began getting inebriated nearly every night. It didn’t take long for his coworkers or for his supervisor to notice that Russ was coming to work late at least twice per week and that he routinely called off sick. Moreover, some of the workers made an appointment with staff in Human Resources Department and said that Russ repeatedly came to work with a noticeable smell of alcohol on his breath or on his clothes.
Russ’s boss heard about all of this from Human Resources and also from Russ’s co-workers. So one Friday afternoon he called Russ into his office. He told Russ that he had recently noticed a distinct change in his attendance, work performance, sick time, and in his behavior.
When a Supervison Can Encourage a Worker to Get Help For His or Her Irresponsible and Excessive Drinking
Russ’s supervisor also articulated that a number of his co-workers reported him to Human Resources because he had been coming to work with a noticeable smell of alcohol. His supervisor then stated the following: “Russ, your co-workers are not reporting you to the Human Resources Department to get you into any trouble or because they don’t like you but instead because they are concerned about you. And I am concerned too. I don’t want to intrude into your affairs, but it is evident that you are exhibiting some of the basic signs and symptoms of a drinking problem. As a consequence, I want you to go and see someone in the employee’s assistance program to discuss your drinking and your depression.”
“Russ, I’m no physician or a therapist, but I have seen several of my relatives and friends go through some very negative alcohol side effects. What is more, I have also experienced the signs of alcoholism first-hand in my own family. When people experience problems with drinking, these problems not only affect the drinker, but they also make an impact on his or her neighbors, family, friends, relatives, and co-workers.”
Russ respected his supervisor a lot and consequently followed through with his suggestion the very next day when he called and scheduled an appointment with a counselor in the employee’s assistance program.
Russ is Still Depressed But Experiences Some Hope That He Will Get Back on Track With His Life
Even though Russ didn’t automatically feel any better or less depressed about the hurt he still has about Emma, he felt comfort knowing that his manager and his co-workers wanted what’s best for him and cared about him. This gave Russ some psychological relief for the first time in a number of weeks and he actually felt some hope that he would get back on track with his life.