Someone recently sent me the following question:

We don’t have an HR department in my company.  What are the legalities of a person suspected being drunk on the job?  We have very strong suspicions. We’ve pointed it out to the employee’s boss with no results. It interferes greatly with our work day and attitude.

First of all, I’m not a lawyer and this shouldn’t be considered legal advice.  This also isn’t the Dr. Drew show so I can’t just shoot out a snappy reply.  And that’s really the point.   I’ve done many workplace investigations over the years, and there are a whole lot of unanswered questions here:

1. What specific behaviors have been witnessed?


2. Is this the first time that the behavior has been witnesses?  If not, how many other times has it been witnessed?


3. Does this person have any kind of medical condition or disability (that the company is aware of)?


4. Where is the company located?  There could be local laws to consider.


5. What kind of industry is the company?  There might be industry-specific regulations.


6. How many employees does the company employ?  That determin