The office manager is drinking on the job?

I caught her last Weds in the whse drinking during work hours. She then sent an email to be telling me how to do my job (like I just started yesterday) I went to my supervisor who, got mad, but does nothing. I didn't work on Thur or Fri but was told by another employee that she was drinking on Fri also, and that employee caught her as well as a technician and the whse guy. Today I got 2 phone calls from angry customers that said "I talked to Drunk lady (no names) on Friday...." no record of course. I am not happy about it, but am havinga hard time finding another job that pays this well.
What can I do?
Additional Details
Nicole R - She IS the HR person too!

Also - my first line was I CAUGHT HER DRINKING! meaning I saw her with Beer in her hand putting it ito her lips.
I smelled her 3 hours later and heard her slurred words.

G T

if anything i would go over her head and let someone other then the person you told be for know and have the person who call you tell too

Stacie T

Go to her boss or the owner of the company.
Tell them you are worried about business and have had customer complaints.

The next best thing is when a customer complains, give them to her boss to file their complaint officially.

Shouldn't take long to take care of the problem.

Mel

This is a difficult situation because the person to whom you would normally report it is the person with the problem. This sounds like a fairly small company. Depending on the internal relationships (like, is she the wife of the owner?), it might be appropriate for you to meet with the owner of the company and lay out your concerns. Make sure you document what you saw, dates, times, customer comments, etc.

Believe it or not, alcoholism and drug abuse are protected disabilities under the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA.) That doesn't mean employees get to drink on the job - it does mean that the company has to offer them an offortunity to take an unpaid leave of absence and go into rehab. They are only obligated to offer this once - after that, they can terminate the person.

If you decide it's appropriate to speak to the owner, it then becomes that person's problem and you should step back from it. Angry customers should be given the name and number of the owner...if s/he hears it from enough people, it may get dealt with.

Good luck.

Nicole R

I would tell your Human Resources department that you suspect your office manager has been drinking on the job. If your co-worker would say something too it might be taken more seriously. Then let the HR dept do its job.

-HR Girl

CatLaw

Follow what Nicole R said and then get out of this. It is none of your business. If this person does her job in a manner that causes problems, report the problems. It is not up to you to say someone is drunk unless you have actually seen them consuming alcohol. For all you know she has some medical issue or mental issue. You do not want to get involved if the company decides to terminate her and she decides to sue the company. OR worse if she thinks you are the one reporting her she may go after you.

dtndtt

you would think going to the higher up would work, yet sometimes there are those that just hold tiaras over there head and everyone thinks that they're just wonderful
i would think that she will soon get herself in some hot water but then who knows, she'll probably just go to rehab and comeback with a vengeance good luck

Enter Your Message or Comment

User Name:
User Email:
Post a comment: