Help! I don't know where to turn

System

I have been told, off the record, by an employee that they believe that the General Manager at one of our locations out-of-town is drinking on the job. I have been asked to please not tell anyone. The employee has stated that this manager goes out to lunch and comes back in the office with red eyes and smelling of alcohol. The manager has just gotten back from vacation, but we were having problems with him not being in the office during office hours prior to leaving on vacation. He would typically leave for lunch about 11:00 a.m. and return late afternoon each day. He is having marital problems and we were told that he was going to straighten himself out and come back ready to work. We had no indication prior to this that he had been drinking. This person runs the location and we are not there to supervise him. How do I go about finding out if this is true without this employee knowing that I have betrayed them?

DR

I think that I (or maybe his supervisor) should pay a surprise visit and be present when the employee returns from lunch. I have received information such as this in the past that turned out was not true, just rumors started by his employees attempting to have him termed. Stand by your manager until you can prove otherwise.

Down_the_Middle

I concur with the afternoon visit by a superior or another interested observer. Presumably, you don't have a current reasonable suspicion drug test policy that could be invoked. The GM's supervisor could always ask the GM to voluntarily agree to a breath/urine test. [I've seen this work effectively in the past where no formal policy existed]. If performance issues are present, an EAP referral may have value, if you have such a benefit. This may help identify the underlying issues that are present. Sounds to me as tho the supervisor needs to sit down with this GM and have a heart to heart about the areas of concern.

PMI

I agree with the two previous responses. I've been down that road many a time, and have learned that if it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it's probably a duck. However, catching him drinking on the job, and later proving it in court can be messy. I agree with the recommendation to make a surprise visit, but I'd also start focussing in on whether or not he's doing his job. If he's frequently stepping out to get drunk, and missing half the work day in the process, there HAS TO be evidence of it in the quality of his work. Identifying & documenting those performance deficiencies may be the key to correcting the problem.

Sarah Magee

I'm not an attorney, but I have to wonder if it's in your best interest to try to find out if the manager is drinking. After all, it really is none of your business except if he's caught violating a no-drinking-at-work policy, which will be virtually impossible to do in the circumstances. The focus of your inquiry should be on performance, not drinking. Presumably, it is a job requirement that the manager be at work during certain hours. If it's not, then you might want to make it one, so long as you apply it to all similarly situated employees. If the manager is off premises for many hours, that's not a drinking issue per se. It's a performance issue. First you need to document his absences at times he should be present. Then he needs a warning and an improvement plan with someone checking up on whether he's meeting the goals. The warning meeting would give you a chance to express concern for his welfare and, if he indicates he is having problems, refer him to your EAP or just to AA and other community resources that could help him with his problems if you don't have a formal EAP. If his job requires him to be off premises for many hours each day, that's another story and needs another plan. Make your contacts and your plan about performance, not drinking. For instance, it would be a very bad idea to require him to, say, get help with his drinking to keep his job. It's a good idea to hold him to the acceptable performance of all the duties and responsibilities of his position and to offer him reasonable support to do that.

Gar

It seems to me that employers have an obligation to assure that employees are not under the influence at work for one very good reason (safety). If an employee is under the influence at work and causes an accident that results in an injury and the employer knew this employee has a history of such conduct and did nothing about it, I've got 5 bucks that says the employer will be sued just as surely as the sun comes up. Any takers?