Breakfast Forum newsletter – January 2010

We would like to take this opportunity to wish all our Forum members a happy, healthy and successful 2010.

The feedback we have received on our 2009 programme of Breakfast Forums has been extremely encouraging and positive. We were also extremely fortunate in not having to cancel a single forum due to clashes with court or tribunal commitments. Regrettably, however, our first announcement of the decade has to to be the postponement of the forum planned for January on TUPE. On 15 January Tony Bertin is summoned to appear on a major whistle blowing case in the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT). The EAT normally defers to no one and no excuses, (not even breakfast forums) are accepted.

We will therefore now be discussing the legal and HR implications of TUPE, the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations on 12 February instead. These important regulations preserve employees' terms and conditions when a business or undertaking, or part of one, is transferred to a new employer. TUPE can arise in some unforeseen circumstances, sometimes simply as a result of a successful bid for a new client contract.

If you are interested in attending our February forum, please contact anne@employment-relations.co.uk, tel: 01303 840001. We believe this topic has particular significance for employers during the economic recession and we will be circulating further details nearer the time.

Our last Breakfast Forum in 2009 had a seasonal flavour when we looked at the increased incidence of alcoholism, binge drinking and its impact on the body. Leading our discussions was Dr Patrick Wheeler, consultant physician with a special interest in gastroenterology and liver disease, who gave us all food for thought at the start of the festive season, as well as something to accompany our seasonal glass of bucks fizz!

Dr Wheeler explained that one working definition of an alcoholic is someone who drinks more than his doctor!

Put baldly the clinical aspects of alcoholism can appear alarming: not only does it damage the liver, but also the nervous system; it affects balance, causes fits and hallucinations, and makes people unable to retain recent information. Excess alcohol increases the incidence of strokes, it affects the heart and blood pressure, the intestines, pancreas, leads to low blood sugar, muscle damage, testicular atrophy, damage to foetuses in pregnant women, and on the psychiatric front, causes anxiety and depression. There is a tragic determination among alcoholics to go downhill, and a genetic propensity to addiction is generally recognised.

Cirrhosis of the liver has increased by 99% since 2000, and from 2002 to 2005 alcoholism caused more deaths than breast cancer, cervical cancer and MRSA. Some 22,000 deaths a year are alcohol related.

Cirrhosis is a chronic liver disease and rather like playing Russian roulette: although it only affects 20% of drinkers, there is no way of knowing who will be a victim, and the damage is irreversible. Women are more prone to liver damage, due to their body size and weight.

Figures show that 27% of men and 15% of women drink hazardously, i.e. above the published safe limits. The recent increase in alcoholism in women and young people has a direct relation with crime and youth behaviour.

Twelve percent of the work carried out by accident and emergency departments is alcohol related. Although 12 million people are dependent on alcohol in the UK, only 300,000 are problematic drug users. Yet drug misuse is a much higher government priority with an allocated budget of £1.2m to tackle the problem, but no budget for alcohol. This is all the more surprising as early intervention with alcoholics is health and cost effective.

Safe weekly drinking limits are 21 units for men and 14 for women, a unit being 8 gr of pure alcohol such as a single unit of spirits, one small (100 ml) glass of wine or half a pint of beer. In other words, two or three drinks per day is probably a safe limit. It is also good discipline to have two or three alcohol-free days per week, if only to test your dependency. Dr Wheeler recommended the CAGE test as a useful self assessment tool which can be distributed to employees as part of alcohol awareness training.

A major issue with alcohol is that it has become 50% more affordable over the last 50 years. This may explain the current youth culture of binge drinking. Youngsters do not know, or do not want to recognise, the damage they are doing to themselves; they can afford to drink; and they are influenced by advertising.

Dr Wheeler acknowledged that physicians are worried about what they are going to see in 10 years’ time as a result of this excessive drinking. All present agreed that coping with alcohol in the workplace is easier for the safety-critical industry sectors that can impose a policy of zero tolerance and monitoring. In some areas attitudes to alcohol consumption can be ambivalent, leaving employers uncertain as to how to tackle the problems of abuse sensitively. The CIPD do produce an excellent guide for HR managers on managing alcohol and substance abuse in the workplace.