Work Place Gambling

A recent case brought to our attention by a GIS member involved an incident of gambling taking place during work hours. In this particular case, the member had suffered a major relapse after a period of 18 months of abstinence. His history indicated a pathological problem commencing in teenage years of a stress related binge type disorder. However he had responded well to treatment over the past five years with a few small lapses of insignificant proportion. He was a regular attendee at GA and had both professional counselling and effective family support. This was the first time his gambling problem had affected his work.

Fortunately this relapse resulted in minimal immediate financial damage because of the safety measures the member had already in place. However, it ultimately led to him losing his senior management position with his employer—who reacted in what can only be seen as a particularly punitive manner.

In essence, it appears that once the employer became aware of the employees absences, rather than approach him directly they had him followed over a period of weeks. During which time they documented his attendance at a particular club in the locality on a number of occasions commencing at lunch-times and extending into work hours.

Contrary to all their performance policy or disciplinary procedures, they did not provide warnings, performance counselling or supervision but chose to threaten dismissal with an eventual back-down to a demotion - a condition of which was that the employee disclose his problem to his team colleagues. Cutting a long story short, the employee once disclosing the situation to family, gained legal advice, took an unfair dismissal case against the employer—which was ultimately settled before the conciliation hearing took place — the employee choosing to accept a package and resignation rather than face the ongoing stress of legal action and the damaged relationships at work even if reinstatement was a possibility.

This case highlights a number of complex issues. The fact that the employer failed to recognise the gambling problem as a matter of health and welfare but more an issue of fraud was the defining factor. There was no policy in place to guide managers on the issue and the fact that they chose to have the employee followed rather than intervene more proactively (even before they knew there was a gambling problem) raises a number of concerns about the application of disciplinary procedures within this public organisation.

We are certain this case is not unique. We are concerned that other employees are being harshly treated when faced with gambling problems at work and that particularly when no major criminal activity is involved, we believe the matter should be dealt with under the “duty of care responsibilities” for the health and welfare of staff under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2001. It is of considerable concern that this organisation had an effective Drug & Alcohol policy in place but at no time made the connection between a workplace gambling incident and an existing addictions policy and procedure. Consequently the employee was left to those ignorant of the disorder and prejudicial in their treatment.

The Gambling Impact Society (NSW) is researching this issue and would like to hear from others who may have similar stories to tell or better still are working for organisations who have gambling policies in place.

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