My alcohol addiction cost me my job

Some of us find the working week something to endure and a means to an end. And then there are some people within the UK workforce who simply can’t wait to get to work each day. They love their jobs and wouldn’t change what they do for a living for anything.

That’s exactly what Prasad*, now a reformed alcoholic, thought until his boss decided to introduce substance abuse checking measures in the workplace. “Prior to being fired I was given three warnings” Prasad explains. “The company I worked for operated a ‘three strikes and you’re out’ system when it came to handing staff written warnings. Once I overstepped the mark a third time, that was it.”

“I arrived for work inebriated five days in a row” Prasad confesses. “I also drank at lunchtimes. I was one of those employees who felt invincible and irreplaceable. I knew I shouldn’t really be abusing alcohol on the job but my attitude back then was that my employers needed me more than I needed them.

“I was wrong. The thing I am most ashamed of is not that I so blatantly broke company rules, but that I also bullied a couple of office juniors. One of them eventually left the building in tears, never to return. I will always deeply regret my reprehensible behaviour. I was a disgrace.”

As well as workplace bullying, problems that can arise for companies where employees misuse substances can include:

• Lower productivity
• Increased staff turnover
• Lower profit margins
• Increased absenteeism
• Loss of clients
• Damage to the organisation’s reputation
• Accidents and other breaches of health and safety requirements
• Employee theft
• Lower staff morale
• Increased stress levels

It also goes without saying that alcohol addiction doesn’t only result in problems for employers and organisations, but can cause untold devastation in all areas of an individual’s life. That’s why it’s so important to seek professional help as soon as possible.

*All names have been changed to protect patient confidentiality.