When I told my company’s HR department I was struggling with alcohol, the response was immediate—and devastating.
No one was allowed to talk to me. My supervisor, colleagues and even friends there were cut off from communication. What should have been a compassionate arm around my shoulder was instead one pushing me away. I went from being a part of the company to being apart from it.
That response still puzzles me today. If one of my co-workers had been diagnosed with cancer and needed to go on FMLA for treatment, would that person be barred from communicating with fellow employees? The answer is no. Yet, when addiction enters the workplace, so do isolation and shame. Fortunately, HR executives are now playing an increasingly vital role in changing workplace culture to be recovery-friendly.
Seven in 10 American adults with alcohol or illicit drug use disorders are employed. That’s 13.6 million workers with a substance use disorder (SUD) trying to maintain their professional lives. When I address corporate audiences, I ask them to envision a drug addict or alcoholic. Nine times out of 10, they picture someone sitting on the street—not at a desk.
When employers can’t identify who’s struggling, they fail to see what recovery truly requires. What passes for “recovery-friendly” in most organizations falls far short of what employees in recovery need. Companies focus extensively on post-treatment return policies and assume that once someone completes a program, they’re ready to jump back into full-time work. This mindset skips over the hardest part of recovery, which happens once we get home.
After 90 days of treatment, I was expected to work 40 hours a week, drive my daughters to sports practices and resume life exactly as I had left it months before. Recovery doesn’t work that way. It wasn’t long before my position was eliminated—a legal way of removing me from the organization and an end to the isolation that began when I first asked for help.
See also: HR’s role in changing the conversation about alcohol use
Strategies to foster a recovery-friendly workplace
To establish a “recovery-friendly” workplace, employers and HR executives must acknowledge that SUD is already present. They should ensure SUD treatment for all levels of care is included in healthcare plans and reinforce that employee assistance programs (EAPs), which are confidential, won’t affect employment status.
Statistically, roughly one in five employees is affected by addiction, so recognize who they are. Workers with SUDs take nearly 50% more unscheduled days off. Increased absence, irregular work habits and changes in the quality of deliverables are common red flags for someone struggling. What if your managers noticed when attendance patterns change and checked in?
When HR professionals pay attention and express concern, that can make a big difference. Addiction is the only progressive, incurable and fatal disease that tries to convince you that you don’t have it. Even when there’s evidence of a serious problem, the person struggling can’t always see it clearly.
Recently, remote work has created new opportunities for employees to hide substance use. For me, working from home and traveling constantly caused the perfect storm for my addiction. There’s a lack of accountability without daily face-to-face interaction. A colleague once caught me slurring my speech during a work call, and that comment pushed me toward treatment and helped save my life. In a hybrid or remote work environment, those accidental interventions are rarer.
Workplace norms matter, too. Many organizations promote drinking through happy hour meet-ups and boozy holiday parties. Being “recovery-friendly” doesn’t mean eliminating these activities, but we should make them inclusive. That means normalizing sobriety by offering mocktails alongside cocktails at the same bar, and training employees to understand that “no” is a complete sentence and not to question why someone isn’t drinking.
The business case for a recovery-friendly workplace
Amazon provides one of the best examples of what comprehensive support looks like, and its approach works regardless of whether you’re running a Fortune 500 company or a small family business. It normalizes recovery by hosting 12-step meetings, including recovery resources at wellness events, offering graduated return-to-work plans and creating an environment where employees feel safe asking for help. Most importantly, Amazon understands that recovery is a lifelong process—something most organizations miss entirely.
Adopting these practices provides a clear business benefit. A 2018 study showed that while healthcare plans spend $35.3 billion per year on employees’ SUD-related costs, each person recovering from an SUD saves a company more than $8,500 annually. Workers in recovery miss 13.7 fewer days per year than those with untreated SUDs and 3.6 fewer days than the average employee. Plus, the turnover rate for employees in recovery is 12% lower. We work hard, and we have drive and tenacity. Common obstacles don’t bother people in recovery.
Winning three Olympic gold medals represents what I did. Recovery represents who I am. There’s a big difference between the two. Swimming changed my life’s trajectory in 55.92 seconds. Recovery is the daily work shaping who I’ve become.
“Recovery-friendly” workplaces must welcome the millions of employees walking this path and create conditions free from stigma and shame. The employees whom HR supports today become the colleagues who help others tomorrow.
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