The Curse of the Working Classes: Alcohol as a Workplace Issue

Published date01 May 1990
Date01 May 1990
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1108/00483489010142060
Pages34-42
AuthorAnthony Fenley
Subject MatterHR & organizational behaviour
The Curse of
the Working
Classes:
Alcohol as a
Workplace Issue
Anthony Fenley
P
roblem drinkers have to be persuaded
to accept assistance and they cannot be
compelled to do so.
34
PERSONNEL REVIEW
19,5
"Commander Pym is a very popular man", said an RN
spokesperson, "but after
he
and his wardroom's glee club
performed their Seven Dwarfs routine and left Gibraltar's
London Bar
on
their knees while
singing
High-ho!,
he had
to be helped to the local hospital, and the ship under his
command, the nuclear submarine HMS Churchill, sailed
without him"[1].
The Problem
The issuing
by
the Employment Department of the leaflet
"Alcohol in the Workplace
A
Guide for Employers" is
the strongest indication yet of
the
concern felt at the cost
to industry of alcohol misuse.
The consumption of
alcohol
has doubled since 1950 while
"evidence clearly shows that the number of alcohol
problems to be found in a particular society is closely
related to per capita
alcohol
consumption, and this
in
turn
is related to the availability of alcohol, mainly its retail
price"
[2].
This inevitably impacts on the employment
relationship, and there is growing recognition that alcohol
is an increasingly difficult workplace issue for managers
to deal with.
Legally employers are required to meet the provisions of
the
1974
Health and Safety at
Work
Act,
while at the same
time fulfilling their responsibilities under s.54 and s.57
of
the
1978
Employment Protection Consolidation
Act.
These
two statutes provide the legal framework within which
workplace policies on alcohol should be shaped.
The 1974 Health and Safety at Work Act
The
1974 Act
defines
a
number of legal requirements. The
first concerns the employer's general duties for health
and safety and welfare of
all
employees at the workplace
"so far as is reasonably practicable" (s.2 (1)).
There is a requirement to have a written statement with
regard to the health and safety of employees and "the
organisation and arrangements for the time being
in
force
for carrying out that policy" (s.2(3)). The employer's
responsibilities to non-employees are specified in Section
3 it is "the duty of every employer to conduct his
undertaking in such a way as to ensure, as far as is
reasonably practicable, that persons not
in
his employment
who may be affected thereby are not exposed to risks to
their health or safety".
The employee also has duties to take reasonable care for
himself and others who "may be affected by his acts or
omissions at work" (s.7), while Section 8 proscribes
"reckless behaviour".
The 1978 Employment Protection
Consolidation Act
The 1978 Act gives workers the right not to be unfairly
dismissed (s.54), while the employer, in order to justify
a
dismissal,
must show that the reason for dismissal meets
the requirements of
s.57 (2);
these are capability, conduct,
redundancy, or a statutory restriction, or some other
substantial reason (s.57 (1) (a)).
In addition Section
6
of the
1980
Employment
Act
specifies
that tribunals, in determining whether
a
dismissal
was
fair,
shall depend on whether, "in the circumstances (including
the size and administrative resources of the employer's
undertaking) the employer acted reasonably or
unreasonably... and the question shall be determined in
accordance with equity and the substantial merits of the
case".
Also of relevance is paragraph
14
of the
ACAS
Code
of Practice on Discipline which refers to reasonableness
in all the circumstances, and the need to take account of
the employee's record, and other relevant factors.
Therefore managers in dealing with alcohol abuse at the
workplace have to reconcile meeting their obligations
under safety legislation while at the same time treating
individual employees fairly in dismissal situations. Legal
problems
may
be encountered where a policy or practice

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