Colleague possibly drinking alcohol on the sly at work

[WhoBobWhatPants]

There's a bloke where I work (an office of 11 plus Directors),who’s been with us since February, who I think has been drinking alcohol while he's at work.

Throughout the day he goes to his car regularly, between 6-8 times a day, and 'fiddles about', quite a lot with a bottle, like moving it from the front to the back if he's giving a lift or stopping 20-50yds down the road to have a drink of it after leaving work for the day (which I've seen myself)

Today it's come out while a few of us were talking in the office, that 5 out of the 11 of us have noticed the smell of alcohol on his breath after he's been out to the car.

There are 2 bosses 'we' could go to, but one of them has been done for drink/driving themselves (which may skew his take on the matter, albeit he knows it was an idiotic choice on his part following a big night out) and I can't help wondering what may happen if they ask the bloke about it.

What if he denies it, or he hasn't been drinking alcohol, or hasn't been drinking more than the equivalent of a half at lunchtime, or says he has been but will stop straight away, how can they make sure he has?

The main thing for me is whether he's drinking and then going out in his car, but as it's not 100% certain he is drinking alcohol, short of the police catching him in the act, how can anyone know whether he is or not?

I have thought about just going to the police myself, but rather than that, wouldn't the next step in the process be to go to my bosses because of not being totally certain he is drinking?

He's actually a really nice person and does a good job which makes it harder to 'grass him up' when there's a possibility he might just be swigging mineral water (if he was then why not bring it into the office?).

I know it's come to a time where something has to be done. It doesn't feel right to go to him directly and 'accuse' him, so if I go to my bosses is that doing enough to stop him drink driving (if he is)?

If I go to the police it's too hit and miss as to whether they'd be able to catch him at it, if they did anything at all, and how long would they take? Would he be back driving his car home on Monday pissed? (And aren't the police the easy option so nobody in the office has to take responsibility for accusing him.)

So it's back to the bosses and them asking him.

It's a vicious circle.

Gah!

By all means speak to your manager if you think your colleague is drinking, if for no other reason than if he is alcohol dependent he needs to get help. From your description his behaviour does seem odd, although it could be something else and I think you need to bear that in mind.

If you honestly think he is drink driving, I suppose you should contact the police regarding your suspicions.

Thanks again for all your posts, the differences in what people think I ought to do at least says I'm not overthinking it.

'This is exactly te type of attitude that allowed JS to get away with his crimes for so long.'

It's not just the connection you've made between me and turning a blind eye to someone sexually assaulting children that I find offensive queen, but you've also forgotten that people did report JS (one in 1958!), and that I'm not turning a blind eye to what I suspect this man is up to. If I was I wouldn't have bothered posting, it'd be much easier to just keep my head down and not get involved.

I admit I should have stopped him driving on Friday, but I didn't and there's nothing I can do about that now. I only had time to think about what was said in the office once I'd got home and then it was too late. My aim now is to stop him from driving if he's been drinking and working out what I can do to stop that, not just tomorrow or the next day, but long term.

I'm going to text the director first thing and meet up with him away from the office when we first get in. He'll know it's something important as I've never had to meet with him like this before, but I'll back that up with how I tell him, hopefully he'll take it on board and act. I'll definitely say something (to the bloke himself and/or the police) though if I think he's been drinking and is about to drive.

Well done. It'll be horrible at the time, but you'll feel much better after you have spoken to him. He'll probably not be able to tell you what they will do, either at the time or afterwards, due to duties of confidentiality regarding a personal health issue.

I would report to the police. He'll be fine if he isn't drinking&driving.

If he is, he will lose his licence.

If he is a good worker, and his work isn't affected, why involve the manager?

That way he might lose his job (and his licence, if manager reports him).

I would honestly not let him drive home one more time if he really is drunk. This is a disaster waiting to happen.

WhoBobWhatPants keep your hair on woman!! I was talking about that Office manager woman who said she would be furious if an employye went to the police because it would be bad for team cohesion etc

That would be me queen, and I'm not a woman, and I recall saying much more overall than just 'team cohesion'.

There seems to be a rather lot of H&S divas around, jumping to all sorts of conclusions and angsts. fwiw Who I'd agree with your plans - it's tricky isn't it but it's right to give it over to the directors. Obv if that has no effect then he's really asking for a firmer intervention from the police. Best with it!

'There seems to be a rather lot of H&S divas around, jumping to all sorts of conclusions and angsts'
I posted above about a bright/sporty teenage relative who will never walk again thanks to a drunk driver.
Come back and talk about 'divas' and 'angst' when someone you love is knocked down by a driver under the influence (and there are 10,000 injuries/deaths a year in the UK)
See how you feel then about those who knew and did nothing

keep your hair on! No-one is talking about doing nothing - just suggesting something you don't agree with.

Maybe need to put who you're talking to in your posts queen?

Aside from the JS bit I can see what you're saying though, but that only stands if you think the police are the ultimate answer to people who decide to drink lots of alcohol and then drive, and I'm not sure they are. Telling them is just so hit and miss IMO, and I know a pp said they'll come out every time to pull him over but I don't think it'd be as straight forward as that.

I'm trying to work out the most effective way to stop him (if he is even doing what we suspect), and to me the police are only a good option if I know for sure that he's got in his car after he's had more than the limit allows for alcohol. (although I would of course try to stop him if I was there in front of him)

Maybe he is physically dependent on alcohol and he needs to drink small amounts during the day to stop from going into withdrawal. Are there any indications that he is actually drunk at work? He might still be under the limit for driving so unless you can see that he is clearly impaired then I would talk to him first rather than the police.

magpiegin
"OP reporting this man for drink driving is nothing to do with work"

If the person is drinking at work then it is something to do with work, and not only because he is drunk at work but his actions at work may be dangerous to others.

"Setting him up to be arrested is just the pits."

WTF? Oh diddums. My heart bleeds.

I wish the piece of dogshite who killed someone very close to me had been arrested prior to getting in his car. It probably would have saved our loved one's life.

If he is drinking through the day, WhoBobWhatPants, the chances are that he's topping up, will have been over the limit when he left home in the morning and is over the limit when he leaves the office in the afternoon.

If that's so, he's a risk to other road users and to pedestrians. Someone else's teenage child will have a serious chance of being left comatose, someone else's parents will have a serious chance of having to decide to turn off a life support machine and choosing his coffin instead of his first car.

Anyone who would not call the police is despicable imho.

Maybe he is physically dependent on alcohol and he needs to drink small amounts during the day to stop from going into withdrawal.

I have wondered that myself honeycrest, but you'd only have his word to go on, plus it's not something I'd feel qualified to deal with.

Does it matter why he's drinking (if of course he is)? The reason why won't save him if he crashes his car and more importantly it won't save the man coming the other way or the child crossing the road.

If he has issues he needs to address them. The OP's not responsible for that!

right. as someone who was approached by HR regarding my suspected drinking at work:

you need to inform the police first and foremost if you think he is going to drive after drinking. this is not a discussion point.

you need to inform your manager of your concerns, and only yours. if the other members of your team want to also raise a concern that is up to them. you should stick to what you have seen/heard/smelled and that's all.

then you can let things run their course. it isn't complicated really. it's not pleasant though. best of luck op.

Drinking at my place of work is a disciplinary matter, and it's also made clear that if a member of staff suspects another of gross misconduct amounting to a criminal matter it has to be reported to management.

Don't understand how the MN jury thinks that reporting benefit fraud or visa fraud is horrible and unacceptable but think that someone with suspicions re drinking should go straight to the police

Possibly cos drink driving can kill people??? As far as I know benefit fraud doesn't kill innocent people. I can't believe you think the 2 are comparable

If you are worried about him drinking at work, raise it with either your line manager or HR. You can report only what you have witnessed or suspect yourself. Can you imagine how you will sound if you say 'oh manager/director, Julie and Sue say Fred's drinking on the sly, they're sure they saw a vodka /whisky bottle, and Doris says she can smell alcohol, and so have I ...'. Much better to say, 'I've noticed a smell of alcohol from Fred'. Have the courage of your own convictions.

If you are worried about him drinking and driving, go to the police.

If he is drinking through the day, WhoBobWhatPants, the chances are that he's topping up, will have been over the limit when he left home in the morning and is over the limit when he leaves the office in the afternoon.

^^This

I've had a couple op alcoholics in my extended family, and this was exactly the case with them. The daytime topping up kept the blood alcohol levels pretty much permanently high, and with one of them, you would never have known from his behaviour, unless you knew him as well as we did.

Thank goodness that particular gene passed me by.

Thanks for the luck, I was surprisingly nervous when it came to going in to talk to the director and it's a huge relief now it's done.

He took it very seriously (thankfully) and hadn't noticed or heard anything about the bloke. He said he was going to talk to the other director and someone else in the company (close to the bloke) to work out how they're going to tackle it, and that he'd let us know how it goes. He seemed glad I'd told him so at least they've got a heads up.

I didn't see much of the bloke today and didn't see the director talking to him or anything, but I did wonder whether they'd left him to drive off today not having talked to him.