Businesses told to address employee alcohol problems

Employers have been told they need to address alcohol problems among their staff.

According to Drinkaware, each day over 520,000 people in the UK go to work with a hangover, with one in five admitting they struggle to keep on top of their workload and then make mistakes when this happens.

Meanwhile, seven per cent of the 1,000 adults surveyed said they have had to leave work early because they were too poorly to carry on with a hangover.

Gill Trevelyan, head of good practices at Acas, explained how businesses can be negatively affected by staff with alcohol problems.

She said: "Employees with a drink or drugs problem are likely to have higher absence levels than their colleagues.

"A manager should focus on how an employee’s addiction is affecting their performance and how they can get to the root of the problem."

Ms Trevelyan added that it may be worth having a ‘quiet word’ with the employee if it just a one-off case of coming to work with a hangover.

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