Can my husband be fired for having a few drinks day before work?

[Loobieloo27]

My husband has only been working for 6 weeks for a company that provides home delivery. Last week he attended a funeral on the Friday. He had 4 pints between 12 and 5.30 and then stopped. He had work at 10am the next day.

He went to work they asked him if he drank at the wake he said, yes but stopped at 5.30. They proceeded to send him home and have said his job is now at risk.

Ho is this right? He wouldn't of been over the limit but they've said he's a liability on the road?

Thanks for advice.

did he appear worse than usual?

Is it part of his contract? That’s the only thing I can think of.

I do think it’s ridiculous though if as you say he stopped at 530 and was working at 10am the next day

do they have a specific policy?

if he appears unfit to drive (smells of alcohol, weird behaviour) then the employer has the obligation not to let him drive for them.

Maybe it wasn’t 4 pints. Did they get him to do a breath test? 8 units is binge drinking and i wouldn’t be able to drive the next day after that.

More info needed.

5:30am (when due in at 10am) or 17:30 the day before work?

Big difference in the time frames.

And could he have been drinking more and possibly smelt of alcohol?

Was he visibly worse for wear, smelling like alcohol? Did the guy who sent him home take 5.30 to mean 5.30am not pm? Did they do a breath test? Do they have a zero tolerance policy like he might legally be ok to drive but they won’t allow you to drive with anything in your system.

Are you sure it was just 4 pints? In my experience as a copper, it is NEVER the number they claim.

Did he smell of alcohol? Unwashed etc?

What does his contract say? It wouldn't surprise me if it is written in there about alcohol within x hours of a shift.

Unsure on policy's, he stopped at 5.30pm. No breath test was offered.

Assuming 4 pints is accurate, that's 8 units. On average, a unit takes an hour to metabolise out of the system, and this metabolising would have started at 12 noon.

Even if you imagine that it only started metabolising at 5.30 (which it wouldn't have done), his body will have been alcohol free by 1.30am, a full 8.5 hour before work.

Unless your DH is withholding info from you and his employer, they're WELL out of line and would need to provide some serious proof or policy to back up sending him home.

I know within 2 years we have no rights so if they sack him for this we can't argue this.

I know within 2 years we have no rights so if they sack him for this we can't argue this.

Do you think they think he meant 5.30 am?

Does he need to drive for his job?
Perhaps it could issues with their insurance if he still has alcohol in his blood.

What does his contract say?
If there is nothing about alcohol in it and they can’t prove he showed up drunk/ unable to do his job then I think they can’t really do anything, because they can’t even prove how much alcohol there was still left in his blood. But I don’t know UK law that well, so I would definitely speak with a sollicitor about this.

Was clarified today it was 5.30pm. Yes that shift was to drive the van.

He needs to wise up. Until he works for them for two years, his 'arse' is theirs and they will shout 'jump' and he should answer 'how high sir?'
Either lie, or get another job.

16 hours later? I think he needs to read his contract of employment, they can’t dictate what he does on his days off.

I think they didn’t want to take the risk of letting him drive. I wouldn’t either if one of my employees smelled of alcohol. Sorry OP, nothing personal but I can see their point.

I find it hard to believe they’d have asked that if he was fine and they weren’t suspicious he was under the influence. As long as you aren’t over the limit when you turn up for work, it’s none of their business what you do in your own time!

Having said that given he’s got such short service there’s not much he can do if they do sack him.

Sadly, with under 2 years service your husband will not have the right to claim unfair dismissal unless he claims the dismissal was linked to a protected characteristic (sex, disability, age etc).

His best option is probably to confirm in writing to them what he drank and when, the fact there is no company policy on alcohol consumption (if that's the case) and that after drinking x units between x and x time there would have been no residual alcohol in his body by x time his duty started.

If there is nothing about alcohol in it and they can’t prove he showed up drunk/ unable to do his job then I think they can’t really do anything, because they can’t even prove how much alcohol there was still left in his blood.

Yes they can. As he has been there less than 2 years they can sack him for any reason as long is it is not discriminatory. Even if he had been there longer they wouldn't have to prove how much alcohol was in his blood before dismissing him, although they would be on stronger ground if they could.

They should breathalysed him, if suspected that he was over the limit.

My partner used to work in a warehouse, where they could randomly test employees for drugs and alcohol. Any level of either meant I start dismissal. Those who cared about their jobs did not do drugs or drink alcohol within 24 hours of going on shift.

Instant, not I start