Lost another job due to drinking past
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: United kingdom
Posts: 360
Lost another job due to drinking past
Hi all, hope you are all well and staying strong. I last posted at the end of January and was finally starting a new job.
It was a great company i worked for and on my second week I spent time with a director and was very open about my past levels of drinking, how I had stopped for nearly 6 months and that i was now drinking a lot less and was going to stop again as i had never really achieved in my career as i should have done.
She was amazingly supportive and said " well lets see if we can get you up to where you should be"
A week later and i had an occupational health assessment and rather naively I felt i could again go through my past story as well as divulge a multitude of physical health and mental health concerns.
Well, I learnt that stupid is as stupid does and they sent me a copy of a report which stated they had spoken to the DVLA who stated I should be diagnosed with alcohol misuse which is reportable and may have my licence taken away or may need blood tests- i immediately withdrew my consent for the report to be sent to my employer , however did explain to them imformally the content. Fast forward a few weeks and them even getting a leter from my gp stating my alcohol use was not reportable for a host of reasons they dug their heels in and my employment was terminated for not passing health checks.
If i had been wiser about what i said i would still have a job.
In relation to my drinking - for me , i would say its been bery well controlled of late mainly due to working, however the last two weeks while ive been suspended i have been going out every day being the self fulfilling prophecy i tend to be which is why it is now time to break the cycle again and today is the end of day one.
Ive started putting things in place to help so lets see how I go this time xx
It was a great company i worked for and on my second week I spent time with a director and was very open about my past levels of drinking, how I had stopped for nearly 6 months and that i was now drinking a lot less and was going to stop again as i had never really achieved in my career as i should have done.
She was amazingly supportive and said " well lets see if we can get you up to where you should be"
A week later and i had an occupational health assessment and rather naively I felt i could again go through my past story as well as divulge a multitude of physical health and mental health concerns.
Well, I learnt that stupid is as stupid does and they sent me a copy of a report which stated they had spoken to the DVLA who stated I should be diagnosed with alcohol misuse which is reportable and may have my licence taken away or may need blood tests- i immediately withdrew my consent for the report to be sent to my employer , however did explain to them imformally the content. Fast forward a few weeks and them even getting a leter from my gp stating my alcohol use was not reportable for a host of reasons they dug their heels in and my employment was terminated for not passing health checks.
If i had been wiser about what i said i would still have a job.
In relation to my drinking - for me , i would say its been bery well controlled of late mainly due to working, however the last two weeks while ive been suspended i have been going out every day being the self fulfilling prophecy i tend to be which is why it is now time to break the cycle again and today is the end of day one.
Ive started putting things in place to help so lets see how I go this time xx
Administrator
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Dancing in the Light
Posts: 61,504
I'm sorry that happened. I believe nothing good ever comes of sharing your alcoholism with anyone you work with for any reason.
I hope you focus on your recovery and staying sober.
I hope you focus on your recovery and staying sober.
Member
Join Date: Jul 2016
Location: Wareham, Mass
Posts: 7,067
Very sorry for the situation, jtmlk. I have never felt it was a good idea to share one's drinking past with employers. There is a lot if misunderstanding about alcohol use and, in my opinion, it can and will be used as ammunition.
Hope you can get past this.
Hope you can get past this.
Member
Join Date: Aug 2016
Posts: 1,645
The world is out to screw everyone for the bottom line.
I will never divulge my past drinking to an employer or during a medical exam sponsored or required by an employer.
That is if I'm ever employed again. I want to disappear somewhere and be a short-term investor behind a computer screen anyway.
I will never divulge my past drinking to an employer or during a medical exam sponsored or required by an employer.
That is if I'm ever employed again. I want to disappear somewhere and be a short-term investor behind a computer screen anyway.
Quit 4/17/15
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: Pa
Posts: 15,176
Great advice here Jtmlk. I am sorry things turned out the way that they did. You will now know to be more discreet with info that can used against you by an employer. As Dee said, though, why keep at the game?
Member
Join Date: Apr 2017
Posts: 119
Thanks for sharing jtmlk. I was about to make the same drastic mistake. I will learn from your situation and the advice here. May it help you to know that you have helped someone. May you find the strength to quit drinking once and for all, so that your drinking past will truly be your drinking past. May you find another job where your drinking past will not haunt you. I just said a little prayer for you. I hope that helps too.
Member
Join Date: Aug 2016
Posts: 1,025
Hi jtmlk,
I am sorry this happenned and I don't mean to be tough on you. But I don't get the feeling you realise the problem here is alcohol, and not your honesty with your ex employer.
You said it yourself, it has caused you all sorts of trouble in the past, and yet you still do it. It is always going to be very hard for people who are not alcoholics to understand that, because the truth is there is no way to justify it, it s addiction, period.
Like you I have tried to control it, like you I managed to do it for some periods, but it wasn't until I actually quit that I realised how much even my "controlled drinking" was affecting my life.
The good news is that if you honestly decide to put some real effort into quitting you can definitely do it. But trust me, the "let's see how it goes" approach has very, very little chance of going anywhere different than where it did in the past.
Please don't take this the wrong way, I am just trying to give you a different perspective (others did the same to me and it really helped).
I truly wish you the best whatever you decide to do.
P
I am sorry this happenned and I don't mean to be tough on you. But I don't get the feeling you realise the problem here is alcohol, and not your honesty with your ex employer.
You said it yourself, it has caused you all sorts of trouble in the past, and yet you still do it. It is always going to be very hard for people who are not alcoholics to understand that, because the truth is there is no way to justify it, it s addiction, period.
Like you I have tried to control it, like you I managed to do it for some periods, but it wasn't until I actually quit that I realised how much even my "controlled drinking" was affecting my life.
The good news is that if you honestly decide to put some real effort into quitting you can definitely do it. But trust me, the "let's see how it goes" approach has very, very little chance of going anywhere different than where it did in the past.
Please don't take this the wrong way, I am just trying to give you a different perspective (others did the same to me and it really helped).
I truly wish you the best whatever you decide to do.
P
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