BOSS DRINKS AT WORK, CAN SMELL ALCOHOL ON HER & ALWAYS DRUNK IN THE AFTERNOON

Boss is drinking on the job. How do I handle this?

I work for a company and over the last few weeks I’ve noticed an odour of alcohol when speaking to my boss (f). She is the Executive Director and heads all the department for a single building.

Today when returning something to her vacant office, I leaned over her desk to place the item back. While doing so I was directly over her cup that was sitting on her desk and got a very distinct smell of vodka.

I picked the cup up and took a large sniff, and I can assure you there is booze in there. I know people will say that vodka is odourless, but go ahead and fill a cup with water and one with vodka and smell each of them.

I don’t want her to get fired but she is taking care of people and holds a license to do so. After confirming this, a lot of things fell into place as to why her eyes are blood shot by noon and why she is always ill prepared for meetings and forgets a lot of things.

I want to get her some help, she is a good person, but clearly has a problem she is battling

Netizens’ comments

1. As an addict in recovery I can tell you that talking to her is likely to do little to nothing. The likely reaction on her part will be defensiveness and aggression.
2. That’s a sure sign of alcoholism. Cut and dried. If she is dealing with a lot of stress, she needs to see a mental health professional. She needs to get sober or she’s going to lose literally everything. What if she hits a car or pedestrians on her ass home and kills someone?
3. If she walked into your office and thought you were drinking she’d likely be straight to HR. Why are you not doing the same? Your boss isn’t your friend.
4. If you’re serious about helping her, and she’s in a position of authority where you work, honestly I think HR is the right move. Going directly to her with this could put your job at risk. If it comes out later down the line that you knew about this but didn’t report it, you could be liable for mistakes she makes in the future. She may view your concern as a threat, like you’re going to hold this info over her head for your personal gain.