What does the Big Book say to employers?

Who is speaking (pp. 136–139)

The chapter is one member's account; the book doesn't name him. Pass It On (1984) says only that "there is some reason to believe" Hank may have written it (Pass It On, 1984). As an assistant manager in a large corporation, he lost three exceptional men to alcoholism, each of whom took his own life after being let go, "because I did not understand alcoholism as I do now" (p. 137). Then he became an alcoholic himself. He tells of trying to help a banker friend understand a fellow executive's drinking: the bank was sure the man was done, because he had taken a cure and been told it was his last chance. The man drank again and was fired; afterward the members reached him (pp. 138–139).

Understanding the alcoholic (pp. 139–141)

• Set your own drinking aside. A moderate drinker can be more annoyed with an alcoholic than a teetotaler, because he controls his own drinking and "cannot see why it should be to anyone else, save the spineless and stupid" (p. 139).
• Is he worth salvaging? The alcoholic employee is often brilliant and quick, "imaginative and likeable" (p. 139). If he would be worth keeping without the drinking, should he have "the same consideration as other ailing employees?" (p. 140). If the reader isn't sure the man is sick and not just weak, the chapter suggests re-reading Chapters 2 and 3 (p. 140).
• His past scrapes. These can generally be charged "to the abnormal action of alcohol on his mind" (p. 140). Not all alcoholics are honest when sober, and some will take advantage of kindness. "If you are sure your man does not want to stop, he may as well be discharged, the sooner the better." (p. 141). The writer says being fired first, then shown the solution, might have brought him back "a well man" six months later (p. 141).

The approach it suggests (pp. 141–145)

1. Be firm. Tell him you know about his drinking "and that it must stop" (p. 141); you'd like to keep him, but can't if he keeps drinking. "A firm attitude at this point has helped many of us." (p. 142).
2. Don't lecture. Assure him you won't moralize or condemn, and explain alcoholism as an illness (p. 142).
3. Probe whether he really wants to stop. "Will he take every necessary step, submit to anything to get well, to stop drinking forever?" (p. 142). If he still thinks he can drink again, even beer, he may as well be discharged after his next bender (p. 142).
4. Medical treatment, through a doctor. For a man drinking or just off a spree, "a certain amount of physical treatment is desirable, even imperative" (p. 143), referred to the employer's own doctor. The employer may advance the cost, to be deducted later from his pay, so he feels responsible (p. 143). But "physical treatment is but a small part of the picture" (p. 143); he must undergo "a change of heart" (p. 143).
5. Keep it confidential. Treat it as "a strictly personal matter" (p. 143), never discussed without his consent.
6. The book, not a command. Give the book to his doctor and to him; "it is best that no one tell him he must abide by its suggestions" (p. 144). "The man must decide for himself." (p. 144). The writer doesn't offer the approach "as the last word on this subject" (p. 144): "After all, are you not looking for results rather than methods?" (p. 144).
7. When he comes back. Be ready to hear shocking things, such as a padded expense account; his new honesty demands it (p. 145).

After his return (pp. 145–150)

• Protect him from office gossip and malicious jokes about his drinking (pp. 145–146).
• He may overwork; encourage him to play, and allow reasonable time for helping other alcoholics, which is "necessary to maintain his sobriety" (p. 146).
• "Your man may be trusted." (p. 146). If he does drink and is really trying, he'll tell you, even at the cost of his job.
• If he stumbles, you decide whether to keep him; "you should feel under no obligation to keep him on, for your obligation has been well discharged already" (p. 147).
• Give junior executives the book, so they stop covering for drinking employees and can be fair and square with them (pp. 147–148).
• Many firms think they have no alcoholic problem; it might pay "to take another look down the line" (p. 149). The chapter is about alcoholics, "sick people," not the habitual or whoopee drinker, for whom a strict policy is "undoubtedly sound" (p. 149).

The writer ends with his own small company, where two alcoholic employees "produce as much as five normal salesmen" (p. 150).

What it doesn't do

The chapter speaks to employers as employers. It doesn't ask them to join or support A.A. It hopes employees may be "put in personal contact with some of us" (p. 144), and says a great deal can be done with the book alone. Appendix VI gives A.A.'s address for anyone who wants help (p. 150, note).

Read it yourself

• Chapter 10, "To Employers" (pp. 136–150): https://www.aa.org/sites/default/files/2021-11/en_bigbook_chapt10.pdf
• Chapters 2 and 3, which the chapter tells employers to re-read: https://www.aa.org/sites/default/files/2021-11/en_bigbook_chapt2.pdf · https://www.aa.org/sites/default/files/2021-11/en_bigbook_chapt3.pdf
• Related: Does the Big Book endorse treatment centres? · What does the Big Book mean by alcoholism as an illness? · Does A.A. sign court slips or write letters for courts and probation?

Sources

Big Book page numbers are from the fourth edition (2001). The Preface says the program chapters have been "left largely untouched" since 1939 (p. xi). Recovery Starts is independent and not affiliated with Alcoholics Anonymous. Quotations are brief and cited; the Big Book and Pass It On are © A.A. World Services, Inc.

These pages answer questions about A.A. from A.A.'s own published literature, read in full, with every quote checked word for word against the page it cites. Recovery Starts is independent and not affiliated with Alcoholics Anonymous. What we read, and when each source was written.