What about consideration of using sick leave banks for addicts?

Most of us know or probably have met someone who has suffered or is battling addiction and have seen these bad consequences. It’s refreshing when we see our friends and colleagues start trying to get a grip on their problem by seeking out professional help. Hospital treatment and rehabilitation is mighty expensive and sometimes insurance (if you have any) only covers a portion. This is where public and private employers can lend a helping hand.

Some workplaces already utilize sick-leave banks. A normal protocol to qualify for such a program starts with donating a small amount of your own sick time. This accrued, along with others creates a bank of days, which helps pay for colleagues who desperately seek our help.  

However, addiction is a delicate subject, considering anonymity, potential stigmas and such; but we have constructive ways to address this. Some employers use boards that vote on whether the sick person is justified or qualified in being granted some of their fellow employees donated sick-time. Many employers have policies that differ from others standards. Also, some people may want to donate and / or exclude donating some of their sick time, for under specific circumstances.

Perhaps some of the solution lies with employing a type of double-blind mechanism, which, with some type of informal checklist identifies various aspects of the ill candidate’s situation; How bad off do we think they really are? How long have they worked here? How valuable is their position? Do they have  family, etc., but never their actual name, or at least follows a standard, which attempts to keep the ill persons name vague or obscured. (This might be impractical for smaller organizations.)

I shared these thoughts with B., an Anonymous friend, who put it best: “We come together as a community, and as fellow employees in cohesive companies, we pull together often to help with so many issues beyond simpler impactful events, like a household fire. 

“So whether it's a child in a family with an expensive cancer treatment, or perhaps an employee suffering from bulimia, (such as the incredibly talented but struggling singer Karen Carpenter). Alcoholism, as with those also struggling from opioid addiction based on an injury, should fall in the same class of "worthy effort" categories. 

“Education would help eradicate those still harboring mistaken beliefs that those struggling with (the media infused temptation of alcohol) really do not want to get better. They want to work at it, and, once given fair time slots and resources to secure their chances of beating it, (plus not lose them as worthy employees doing a great job despite), how is alcoholism not in the subset of the other life challenges? I'm sure Karen did not want to end her life of music with organ shutdown, she just needed more educated, active intervention; perhaps her life could have been saved and we would have had 20+ more years of her amazing voice.” 

-->