Author: Paula Beck, HR Business Partner for PACT HR

Published: 17th January 2022

This month PACT HR discovers how big a problem, alcohol in the workplace is and what you as an employer can do about it.

Cost of alcohol to businesses

£7.3bn is the estimated loss to businesses each year due to increased absenteeism and loss of productivity from alcohol.

According to Public Health England, alcohol misuse is the biggest risk factor for death, ill health, and disability amongst 15 – 49 year olds in the UK. It has a significant impact on individuals, families, and businesses.

Impact of alcohol on those working in the Education Sector

The Office of National Statistics recorded that people working in managerial and professional occupations such as Teachers, Doctors, and Lawyers are more likely to drink more frequently than those in manual occupations.

Alcohol can have a wide range of impact on the workplace from high levels of sickness absence, lower productivity, performance issues, and putting themselves and colleagues at risk of harm. Let’s look at the facts.

Facts on Alcohol and the workplace

Alcohol Change UK highlight a number of workplace issues:

• 40% of accidents at work involve or are related to alcohol use.
• 25% of people say that alcohol of drugs impacts their work.
• 23% state alcohol has impacted their productivity.
• 35% of people say they’ve noticed colleagues under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Although an individual has a responsibility to turn up to work fit for duty, as an employer you have a legal obligation under the Health and Safety at Work Act to protect your employees.

If an employee turns up under the influence of alcohol and you do nothing about this and this places a risk to others, then this could lead to you being prosecuted.

The facts speak for themselves and there is no doubt that it makes good business sense to raise awareness with your employees over the impact of alcohol.

How can PACT HR help you?

Under our service level agreement, we can provide you with an ‘Alcohol at Work Policy’, so you can best approach these issues if/when they appear.

We can provide advice in relation to how to support employees with alcohol issues, ensuring your team is best supported.

In-house training with your teams.

At PACT HR, we also have a bespoke consultancy service that we can customise to your needs.

If you are participating in Dry January drop us a line and let us know how you get on.

For more info on how we can support you, please contact the PACT HR helpdesk on 01274 436644 or email us at info@pact-hr.co.uk or more details.

Useful Information:

• Health at Work Guide to Alcohol
• NHS Alcohol Support
• Alcohol Change UK

Last Updated: 17th January 2022