We have a sous chef who was hired about three months ago. One day recently he was behaving strangely, almost as if he were drunk. After he went home, I noticed his trash can was unusually full of paper. I looked underneath the paper and found six empty minibar liquor bottles. I took a photo for evidence, but I haven’t approached him about it yet or told anybody in HR. This is our busiest time of the year, so we can’t afford to lose him now. Once business settles down, what are the steps I need to take?

Ouch! I’m not sure how long you can afford to delay taking action on this one. Either something very upsetting happened in the sous chef’s life that caused a wild (though inexcusable) day of aberrant behavior, or what you noticed and found are symptoms of a much deeper problem. Here’s a five-step plan for handling the situation:

1. Without identifying the employee, review your company’s policy regarding drinking on the job and alcoholism with HR. You’ll probably find that, while it does not tolerate drinking, it does treat alcoholism as a disease, offering or recommending counseling and treatment.
2. If the company manual includes listings of local alcoholism counseling resources, you may want to contact one of them for some preliminary advice on how best to approach the employee. Or contact Alcoholics Anonymous (www.AA.org).
3. Meet with the employee. Tell him what you observed, show him the pictures of what you found, and ask him for an explanation. Listen very carefully.
4. If the employee admits to having a drinking problem (most won’t), urge him to get counseling and treatment.
5. Tell him it cannot happen again and that a recurrence will lead to his termination.

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As president of StaffDynamics, www.staffdynamics.biz, Daniel Abramson has focused on workforce performance strategies and “raising the bar” for over 25 years. His energetic, no-nonsense style appeals to clients seeking results at a new level. He is available as a corporate trainer, management coach, and for high-impact speaking engagements. His latest book is Secrets of Hiring Top Talent. Please send questions you would like Daniel to address to: Daniel@staffdynamics.biz, or call him at 877-568-2222. Your anonymity will be respected.