I'm a human resources manager and w/o the support and understanding of my boss, the director of HR, I'm not sure I would have succeeded so well in my recovery. My boss had no experience with alcohol/drug addiction and we didn't spend a lot of time talking about it either but I knew he was here for me if I needed him. I was pretty much a mess for at least 6 months into recovery and scared of everything for well over a year, and if I had felt a need to hide my situation from my boss that would have made things even worse for me. Also if you are going to be taking off work for a recovery program or something it could protect you for your employer to know what is going on because your job would be protected by FMLA laws (as long as your employer has over 50 employees).