What about sick leave banks for alcoholics and addicts?

Most of us know or probably have met someone who has suffered or is battling addiction and have seen those bad consequences. It’s inspiring when we see our friends start trying to get a grip on their hard-to-control problems by seeking out professional help. Hospitalization and rehabilitation though, are mighty expensive and sometimes insurance (if any is had) only covers a portion. This is where public and private employers can consider lending a helping hand.

Some workplaces already utilize sick-leave banks. A normal protocol to qualify for such programs 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 urgently seek our help. 

However, addiction is a delicate subject, considering anonymity, potential stigmas and such; but even so we have constructive ways to address this. Some employers use boards who 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.

But this is still workable, and some of the solution may lie with utilizing a double-blind mechanism, which informally identifies various aspects of the ill candidate’s situation:  How bad off are they really? How long have they worked here, and what’s an approximate value of their institutional memory? How difficult will it be for us to replace him / her? What about practical statistics for potential relapse in their particular situation? Do they have close family? Etc. But never revealing their actual name, or at least following a standard that attempts to keep the recovering person’s name vague or obscured. (This might be impractical for smaller organizations.)

Undoubtedly, there are some aspects of using sick leave banks that I haven't considered, but I'd be interested in what readers thoughts are about the idea.  

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I forwarded this idea 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.”

Psychology, Recovery and Mental Health - select readings

• How Jung’s collective unconscious inspired Alcoholics Anonymous
• A Psychedelic Renaissance
• Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity
• Carrying larger sticks
• Challenging the 12-step hegemony.
• China Is Using Brain Implants To Treat Addiction In A World-First
• City life damages mental health in ways we’re just starting to understand
• Complete and utter gibberish
• Creating While Clean
• Earliest Evidence Of Ayahuasca Use Discovered In Ancient Shamanic Pouch In Bolivia
• Empathy Is Too Much Work for Many of Us
• How Inuit Parents Teach Kids To Control Their Anger
• How Lakota Culture Is Helping Treat Child Trauma in South Dakota
• How Psilocybin Could Be Used in Mental Health Treatment
• Life-saving opioid addiction treatments get a negative slant
• LSD helps to treat alcoholism
• Male Loneliness Starts in Boyhood
• Mother Jones spent five months investigating deaths at American Addiction Centers.
• Narconon No-no's
• One Mystical Psychedelic Trip Can Trigger Lifelong Benefits
• Physicians Get Addicted Too
• Ten Days In a Mad-House. BY NELLIE BLY.
• The Irrationality of Alcoholics Anonymous
• The Real Roots of American Rage
• The Spiritual Gift of Madness
• The Untapped Promise of LSD
• What if there's nothing wrong with me?
• Woman in China wakes to find she can’t hear men’s voices
• You’re not getting enough sleep—and it’s killing you

Letter to Grapevine Magazine

What about sick leave banks for alcoholics?

Our cohesive Hospital group recently reviewed the Big Book chapter “For Employers” and up popped the question, “What are some of the AA guidelines for employers to consider regarding utilizing sick leave banks for employees seeking time off to treat alcoholism at treatment center programs?” 

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Understandably, treatment and rehabilitation is expensive and often not fully covered by insurance, so we think it’s great that sometimes fellow employees would like to chip in some of their own earned sick leave days to help the suffering person seeking treatment. However, it does appear to be a delicate subject, considering anonymity, potential stigmas and such; but we imagine that there must be some constructive ways to address this and we hope you can help us.

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We understand that some employers use boards that vote on whether the sick person is justified in being granted some of their fellow employees donated sick-time. And employers often have policies that differ from each other. Perhaps some of the solution lies with employing a double-blind mechanism that identifies aspects of the ill candidate’s situation, but never their actual name. (Which might be impractical for a smaller organization)

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There are probably aspects of this subject that we haven’t thought about yet and we look forward to reading suggestions or guidelines that you and / or Grapevine readers might have on this matter.

Thank you,

Cheers to Annelise

-for her uplifting chants and earth-grounding meditation leads in the magnificent Williamsport pipe organ room. Now I know more about self-correcting, soul-shaking chakras. You made a difference, impacting some of the quietest souls in our NAMI fellowship. And who knew about twelve-step programs harmonized with yoga? What a perfect match.

Homepage • Clear Sphere Yoga

The ABC’s of Whirlwinds

Back in the mid-70’s a tornado hit hard in the Northern Virginia area, where I grew up, much like a wild Indian. The resilient rain along with the gloomy storm front, severely damaged one of the local schools, flooded streets, and ruined several other local structures. The most notable destruction was at the local ABC (Alcoholic Beverage Control) store, where the relentless winds pushed an empty children’s school bus, smack-dab through its plate glass window. Local newspapers featured this on their front page, which gave much mirth to the community, both young and old.

Over the decades, I’ve reflected on this powerful synchronicity and wondered if there was a deeper meaning. After returning to my native roots, I discovered a Lakota reading that compares whirlwinds to falling in love. Only then, could I focus on a new metaphor for this unusual occasion; which is, “Children, the bright whirlwind of love can help defeat the severe darkness of alcohol addiction.”