A Considerate Manager Helps An Employee Address His Irresponsible And Heavy Drinking After A Broken Relationship

Barry got suspended from high school when he was sixteen years old and eventually found employment at a local tire manufacturer. For the last eight-and-a-half years he has gained a reputation as a hard-working and conscientious employee who rarely takes off from work because of sickness.

Around seven-and-a-half months ago he started going out with a young lady named Carol. They seemed to hit it off right away and gave people the impression that they had a lot of fun together.

When Barry met Carol, he rarely drank. This circumstance totally changed when they began dating on a basis. If truth be told, everything was going fine until Carol called Barry one night just about 3:30 AM and said that she had to call off their relationship and that she couldn't tell him the reasons for her decision at that moment.

The next morning before he went to work, Barry went to Carol's apartment and found out almost immediately that she had already moved out. Barry took this exceedingly hard. Actually, he was dismayed because they seemed to be getting along so well.

So what did Barry do about Carol? Rather than working through his misery and pain, he started getting drunk nearly every night. It didn't take very long for his buddies at work and for his boss to see that Barry was coming to work late at least once per week and that he repeatedly called off ill. Not only this but some of his fellow employees made an appointment with staff in Human Resources Department and said that Barry again and again came to work with a strong smell of alcohol on his breath or on his clothes.

Barry's supervisor heard about all of this from Barry's co-workers and from Human Resources. So one Tuesday afternoon he asked Barry to come into his office. He told Barry that he had recently noticed an extreme change in his behavior, sick time, work performance, and in his attendance.

"Barry, I'm not an expert about alcohol facts and I am not particularly well-informed about alcoholism facts, but I have personally seen quite a few of my relatives and friends go through some really damaging problems because of their abusive and hazardous drinking. My suggestion is that you take time and learn more facts about alcohol and what alcoholism and alcohol abuse can do to an individual."

"Why is this relevant? When people engage in irresponsible and abusive drinking, their drinking issues not only adversely affect the problem drinker, but they also adversely affect his or her friends, neighbors, co-workers, family, and relatives. Barry, in sum, I would like to see you get some help for your hazardous drinking from our employee's assistance program."

Barry admired his supervisor quite a lot and as a consequence followed through with his recommendation the next work day when he called and made an appointment with a psychologist in the company's employee's assistance program. Although Barry didn't necessarily feel any better or less depressed about the pain in his heart about Carol, he felt some reassurance knowing that his manager and his co-workers wanted what's best for him and cared about him. This gave him some emotional relief for the first time in a number of months and he frankly experienced some hope that he would get his life back on track.