Posted By declan gibney I am looking for some guidance on dealing with an employee suspected of repeatedly arriving for work under the influence and drinking on the job (he's a hotel porter with access to drink). There is circumstancial evidence that he is doing these things, such as a smell of drink but the company fears an unfair dismissal claim without factual evidence. They do not have an existing testing arrangement or procedure. Any experience of similar situations and how to deal with them effectively but thoroughly would be appreciated.

Posted By J Knight I'm not an HR person, but I have to ask the question, is this employee doing anything wrong? If he was a driver or machine operator it would probably be fairly clear cut, but is being drunk going to interfere with his ability to do his job? If not, then there might be a claim for unfair dismissal. I would be looking for specific performance issues (and it might be that him smelling of drink could put the hotel in disrepute, but this would depend on its likely reputation in any event) or the existence of some statement from the employer that sobriety is a condition of work, John

Posted By Chris Black Declan Boy have you got problems. Basically you will be bound by the HR policies around alcoholism and the line manager's willingness to act (or not as the case may be). Some companies are perfectly willing to act immediately and just take whatever consequences a tribunal brings, others will take a softly-softly approach which might take months (sometimes years) to come to fruition. In my experience you will be unlikely to get cooperation from the individual since they will either be the type of person who is unable to help himself and tries every angle to escape or he thinks he is smart enough to string you along. i have dealt with both types and they are equally difficult to deal with. I remember one case where someone was challenged over the smell of drink and claimed that he was still wearing yesterdays dirty clothes which he had spilled drink over at home before claiming he felt unwell and throwing a sickie, he led us a merry dance for over a year before he was sacked for threatening a customer, even then we had to wait for the criminal trial to come to a conclusion. 90% of cases will respond positively for a short period of time if challenged, the canny ones will accept offers of counselling and string things along for months on end by doing things like going off sick to work off warnings. in a very few cases the shock of a challenge is enough to get habitual drinkers (not necessarily alcoholics) to get their act together or for truly sick people to get the help they need. You will be within your rights to ask nicely if he is drinking or drunk at work and can even ask to have blood or urine samples, the usual answer is a rude one but you can still ask. Basically it is a minefield and HR rules in this area, be vigilant and patient and keep the pressure up on any safety issues, with a bit of luck the guy will be able to turn around things on his own.

Posted By biddy hi this has happened on more than one occasion where i work (manufacturing) once it has been established that there is a problem counselling is offered and before the employee commences work he/she has to attend either the medical Dept or security where there condition is assessed .This is usually over an agreed period i.e. 12 months after that period the employee reverts to his normal working practices

Posted By Barry Cooper Introduce a policy that anyone suspected of being under the influence of alcohol will be subject to summary dismissal. Giving reasonable notice and offer assistance to anyone with an alcohol problem. During the notice period send him home if he comes in suspected of being under the influence. After the notice period, if he then comes to work suspected of being under the influence, sack him. I would rather have a unfair dismissal case to defend than a dead employee any day