Substance abuse

It is university policy to act on signals of substance abuse and to support a substance abuser in getting out of his or her abuse.

Abusing, say, alcohol and/or narcotics and being under the influence at the workplace is incompatible with working at Aarhus University.

An employee who is visibly under the influence will be sent home immediately and subsequently be invited to a personal talk with his or her manager.

The manager must act on signals of substance abuse from an employee by being in dialogue with the employee, perhaps in cooperation with the union representative. AU expects the closest colleagues to also act on signals of substance abuse, for instance by involving the manager, the work environment representative and/or the union representative.

The manager and the employee who has a confirmed substance abuse problem must jointly formulate an action plan with a view to getting the employee out of his or her abuse, perhaps in cooperation with the union representative. The employee is expected to actively comply with the action plan, including the requirement for accepting an offer of treatment. The manager can require that compliance with the action plan is a prerequisite for continued employment.

The manager has an obligation to offer help and guidance and to refer to help elsewhere in the organisation - for instance with local resource persons such as the work environment representative and the union representative or in AU's Work Environment Unit under AU HR Organisational Development and Work Environment.


During the entire process the manager and the union representative can seek advice and guidance from the HR partner.