Can I Lose My Job for Going to an Alcohol Rehabilitation Center?

It’s official: drinking is on the rise in the United States, both when it comes to the number of people who drink to excess and the amount of alcohol they drink.

All across the world, there are stories of people who have lost their jobs due to their out of control drinking.

When you’re ready to stop coming in late, doing poor work, or just spending the day at your desk hungover, you’ve likely considered alcohol rehab.

But if you go to an alcohol rehabilitation center, will you put your job at risk?

After all, you could be gone for up to 90 days, perhaps more if you’re also struggling with drugs.

To understand how attending alcohol treatment centers could impact your job, keep on reading this post.

Understanding the ADA

It’s no secret that you’ll experience many benefits when you quit drinking.

However, let’s make sure you understand how going to an alcohol rehabilitation center could impact your job.

The good news is because alcoholism is a disease, it’s covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act, or the ADA for short. This means that you technically can’t lose your job because you’re an alcoholic.

Of course, workplaces need to be protected from your drinking, too.

When it comes to your work life before you enter alcohol rehab, you can be terminated if your drinking impacts your work performance.

This is part of the reason why it’s important to get into treatment quickly. If you enter into rehab before disciplinary action is taken, the past workplace mistakes you made won’t be enough for your employer to fire you.

The FLMA and You

Once you’ve made the decision to go to rehab, you are protected under the Family and Medical Leave Act.

You’ll be given a maximum of 12 weeks of unpaid medical leave, and your employer won’t be able to fire you.

Additionally, when it comes to paying for your treatment, you’ll be glad to know that your employer must provide you with the standard group health benefits your work insurance offers.

So, are you covered under the FLMA?

If you work in a company with 50 or more employees, for a school, or a public agency, the answer is yes. You also need to have worked for your employer for at least a year, and for at least 1,250 hours per year.

Above all, it’s essential that you file an official FMLA request before you head to treatment. If you don’t properly file, then you put your FMLA coverage at risk.

Ready to Enter an Alcohol Rehabilitation Center?

We hope that this post has helped you to better understand how your work life can and cannot be impacted by the decision to enter into an alcohol rehabilitation center.

Remember that, above all, taking care of yourself is the most important thing of all. After all, you won’t be able to advance in your career at all if your addiction to alcohol is holding you back.

To learn more about how to improve your work life after coming back from rehab, keep checking back with our blog.