Telling your boss that you need to go to rehab for drug or alcohol addiction is hard enough. Having to tell them that you need to go again is even harder. What happens if you go back to work after treatment and slip up with your sobriety? Here’s how to tell your boss you relapsed.
First of all, don’t ghost them. That won’t accomplish anything except for putting the company in an even worse position and saddling you with even more guilt and shame. Plus, it’s a small world and you never know if you’ll run into your employer again further down the road. Even if it’s something as small as a text message or email, you owe your employer the respect of letting them know you will not be able to perform your duties. If there’s any chance of keeping your job after rehab, it starts here.
Next, it’s important to understand that even if you went to rehab before, you may still be entitled to medical leave under the Family Medical Leave Act. According to that legislation, employees with a serious injury or illness may take up to a total of twelve work weeks in any given year. (Check with your employer to find out if they use the calendar year, or consecutive months to count leave.) There are some exceptions, but FMLA may make it possible for you to keep your job.
However, you might want to consider taking a different path post-treatment this time around. If returning to work led you to relapse, maybe it’s worth taking a look at your post-treatment life and environment to see how you can avoid relapse the second time around. IOP (intensive outpatient treatment) might be a better choice than diving right back into work. Or, maybe trying part-time until you get a little more clean time under your belt would be a good idea.
Relapsing means that if you want to get clean and sober and stay that way, you have to do something differently. What will it be for you?
If you’re ready to try a no-BS, professional and powerful approach to addiction treatment, chat us right here on the website or give us a call.
We can help you talk through your options and figure out what approach is going to help get you to a better life—a life that could start today.
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Getting Clean & Sober at Home
Today, more than 75% of hospitals and healthcare providers offer access to telehealth treatment, with 29 states having gone so far as to enact telehealth parity laws, which force insurance companies to reimburse patients for telehealth at the same rates as they would for in-person treatment.
If you’ve been thinking about getting clean and sober, or if you’ve been wanting to work on and strengthen the recovery you already have, it’s never been easier to do it through telehealth.
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