Company Formation Owners Concerned about Staff Drinking

It is a well documented fact that the UK has one of the largest drinking cultures in the work and that this drinking culture permeates every part of life from staff Christmas parties to family celebrations.

However, a recent report has revealed that staff drinking is now posing a significant threat to the UK’s economic recovery, as figures indicate that almost 600,000 employees go into their companies dealing with after effects of alcohol.

According to research from the Government’s health department over fifty per cent of employees admit to calling in sick after a night out while eighty per cent feel that their productivity is severely affected when they come into work after a heavy night the night before.

John Tolley, advisor to the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development , comment ; “ While going for a couple of drinks after work has been a part of the UK’s working culture for sometime and socializing with colleagues is good for staff morale these recent figures are concerning. From our own research we have found that employees are increasingly relying on alcohol to deal with the stress of the recession and the pressure many employees are under to avoid redundancy and cope with an unstable future.”

Dr Dawn Steele also feels that employer should take some of the responsibility, she comments; “The ‘work hard play hard’ mentality exists across many sector and is indeed actively encouraged by some company formation owners. However, employers must take responsibility for their team not only to ensure productivity is not hindered but also to ensure excessive alcohol consumption is not a sign of broader issues.”