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Did you have a pint of beer or a glass of wine with your lunch today? Enjoy it while it lasts if some employers have their way, drinking alcohol at lunch could cost you your job as Gary Flood discovers
Lunchtime boozing: Out with the Ark?
In the run up to the festive season, this may strike some as the wrong
note to hit. We're grown-ups, after all, and if we want some of the falling
down water in our time, what's the big deal?
There's certainly a civil liberties argument that it would be intolerable
for employers to try and regulate the personal activities of staff so
strictly. And what about bosses who do all that business lunching, would
the rule apply to them too?
The answer: three quarters of human resource bosses still say they'd
like to ban all lunchtime drinking, according to an August 2001 poll of
300 managers by Personnel Today magazine.
The reason: alleged growing concern over alcohol and drug abuse in the
workplace, which critics say lead to too many accidents on the job, absenteeism,
and poor performance.
The survey, carried out in partnership with charity Alcohol Concern,
also reported three out of four firms said workers getting over the limit
the night before had led them to miss work next day.
Other recent reports suggest UK firms are thinking of following the lead
of US employers and introducing random drink and drug tests of staff.
And this study confirmed that rumour, with 31% saying they would start
such tests if they could. You may be surprised to learn 10% of UK organisations
already have such policies.
The days of the "pie and a pint" lunch break may be doomed,
it seems, especially in industries like transport and manufacturing, where
employers say safety and efficiency can't be compromised. Health may be
next on the list.
Think that's over the top? Government figures suggest a total of 14 million
work days are lost thanks to hangovers each year – and let's face
it, may of us are probably going to add to that number in the next few
weeks.
This despite mounting evidence on the damage alcohol abuse is causing
in our society. There's an area of Glasgow where the world's highest rate
of a rare form of brain damage directly linked to alcohol, Korsakov's
Syndrome, is to be found. Sufferers permanently lose their short-term
memory.
Sticking with Scotland, one in four young Scottish women now drink more
than the recommended number of units per week, 14 (21 for men). Units
were introduced by the government in 1985 to try and help people regulate
their drinking.
England is hardly a tee-totaller's paradise, mind. In 1998, according
to the government's national statistics office, 38% of men had drunk over
4 units at least for one day in the previous week; 20% of women had drunk
over 3. The proportion of women in the UK as a total drinking over their
unit limit has increased from 9% to 12% in the decade 1988-98, and for
men, that had stayed stable at just over a quarter of all those over 16
(27%).
Put it another way: the average amount in 1998 men were drinking in a
week was 16.4 units - which means there were an awful lot of guys drinking
a lot more.
Doctors are beginning to raise concern over the growing number of injuriesand
diseases brought on in the country by alcohol abuse, such as cirrhosis,
brain disease, a number of cancers and psychiatric issues.
The Department of Health advises that your units (see box for guide)
– 10ml of alcohol – should be divided up like this: men, don't
drink more than 3-4 a day; if you're a woman, no more than 2-3.
If we all stuck to that this year's Christmas and New Year's parties
might be a lot more dull, but they'd be a lot safer for us long-term (let
alone avoid any embarrassing truth-telling to bosses or ill-advised declarations
of amorous intent to colleagues).
The counter-argument to all this comes back to individual choice and
freedom. Organisations such as the Portman Group - an independent body funded
by the drink industry, but not its mouthpiece - say individuals are entitled
to sensible drinking, and as long as they don't harm themselves or others,
that's their business.
Others, such as Dr Bruce Charlton of the Department of Psychology at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, say negative press about alcohol is all you'll get from public health bodies:
"The dangers of alcohol consumption have been extensively documented
in the statistics of road traffic accidents, violence, suicide and physical
disease. because of this catalogue of harm, the probably major public
health benefit of drinking alcohol - a reduced rate of heart attacks -
has been denied or ignored... In high doses alcohol produces intocication,
stupor, coma and eventually death. In lower doses, its effects may be
benign and life-enhancing," (in a lecture at Kings College, London
last year).
So where does this all leave us in regard to the shandy washing down
the cheese and pickle sarny?
Most people in the end would probably agree that the main reason not
to drink with lunch is that it can make you feel sluggish, and thus spoil
your afternoon. But most of us would want to be able to make that decision
for ourselves, surely, and not let the nanny boss or state decide for
us.
And there’s no point in even bringing up drinking and driving, as
only idiots would do that, no matter what time of day we’re talking
about.
In the end it’s up to you – and what you feel is the best approach to enjoying one of the great pleasures of life in a responsible way.
Alcohol abuse is dangerous, anti-social and destructive; making merry with friends and colleagues at times like Christmas one of the high-spots of the year. So here’s to a safe and enjoyable festive period to one and all from everyone at the UNISON web site team.
Contact the article's author Gary Flood
UNISON ASKS FOR EMPLOYER FLEXIBILITYUNISON says employers should recognise that staff will want to socialise more at this time of year, but that arrangements should be made to allow them to do so safely through looking at the timing of social events and possibly giving time off for staff. "Employers have a duty to ensure that staff are not a risk to themselves or others. Having staff working on the premises when drunk, or being intoxicated while others are working, can be dangerous," says Head of Bargaining Support for Health and Safety Hugh Robertson. "Employers should negotiate simple guidelines making it clear that being under the influence of drink and drugs at work is unacceptable, but at the same time make arrangements to allow people to enjoy themselves away from the actual workplace," he adds. What people have said about alcohol: "Alcohol has done more good than bad to mankind. There is so much that has come out of the increased interaction between individuals because of alcohol. Some individuals have had to pay very much for this but mankind has done very well I think." - Arvid Carllson, pharmacologist "I drink it when I'm happy and when I'm sad. Sometimes I drink it when I'm alone. When I have company I consider it obligatory. I trifle with it if I'm not hungry and drink it when I am. Otherwise I never touch it - unless I'm thirsty." - Madame Bollinger, of the famous champagne dynasty, on the family product "Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." - Benjamin Franklin "All right, brain, I don't like you and you don't like me - so let's just do this and I'll get back to killing you with beer." - Homer Simpson "Man takes drink. Drink takes drink. Drink takes man." - Chinese proverb |
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