Stereotypes of Drug and Alcohol Addiction in the Workplace

Employees with alcoholism or drug addiction problems do not usually appear with stereotypical symptoms. Dark glasses, drunk on the job, disappearing in the bathroom, stealing money, wearing long sleeve shirts in the summer, or other popularized stereotypical behaviors are relatively rare. In DOT supervisor training, supervisors will recognize that employees with alcoholism or drug addiction problems eventually demonstrate their inability to keep their personal problem from interfering with job performance standards and understand that troubled employees are mostly identified by ongoing performance problems.