Dry January® 2026
- Corazon Health
- Dec 19, 2025
- 7 min read
Encouraging staff to take part in the challenge, promoting alcohol awareness, and managing alcohol misuse in the workplace.
ABOUT dry January®
Dry January® is the one-month campaign run by Alcohol Change UK encouraging people across the UK to take a break from alcohol in an effort to reset both physically and mentally. Beyond being a simple challenge, it’s a perfect opportunity for people to reset their relationship with alcohol and adopt healthier drinking habits throughout the rest of the year. Abstaining from alcohol can lead to significant improvements in physical health, mental wellbeing, and overall quality of life. In the long-term it can help to lower blood pressure, improve liver function, support immune system, as well as reduce the risk of heart disease and certain types of cancer including bowel cancer and liver cancer. Quitting alcohol can also boost energy, improve quality of sleep, enhance mental clarity, decrease anxiety levels, and help to maintain a healthy weight.
Sign up for the Dry January® challenge today and get access to free motivational emails, daily tips, inspiring stories, and expert advice to help you give up alcohol this January.
SUPPORTING EMPLOYEES AND MANAGING ALCOHOL MISUSE IN THE WORKPLACE
The impact of alcohol on individual performance, team dynamics, and company culture can be profound. Potential risks of alcohol misuse include:
Absenteeism: intoxication, hangovers, accidents, or illness related to alcohol use can lead to increased sickness absence levels.
Accidents and near-misses: health and safety of all staff can be at risk due to impaired judgment and slower reaction times. Unaddressed alcohol use can lead to legal and financial consequences for the organisation.
Presenteeism and poor work performance: alcohol misuse negatively affects focus, decision-making, and efficiency, resulting in reduced work productivity. Some studies have also shown how alcohol can affect motivation and normalise unethical work behaviours of neglecting work responsibilities.
Strained team morale: alcohol-related issues can create a negative atmosphere at work, cause conflicts between colleagues, as well as lead to decreased trust within the team and lower morale across the organization.
"With alcohol-related presenteeism and absenteeism costing the UK economy over £3.96 billion annually, addressing this issue is crucial."
Employers should promote alcohol awareness, support staff who might be alcohol dependent, as well as take a more preventative and proactive approach to managing alcohol-related issues at work. By fostering healthier attitudes towards alcohol and recognising alcohol misuse as a health, safety and employee wellbeing concern, organisations can enhance productivity, reduce sickness absence, and create cost savings through greater efficiency and reduced turnover.
There are a few key measures that you could put in place:
EDUCATE AND PROMOTE ALCOHOL AWARENESS
Raising awareness on alcohol-related harm can encourage responsible drinking practices and empower employees to make more informed decisions regarding their alcohol consumption. You could share relevant resources via Intranet, e-mail and notice boards, invite keynote speakers to share their personal stories and experience with alcohol, organise training sessions, or book our Alcohol Awareness Webinar to help your staff understand health risks associated with alcohol.
If you are supporting the 2026 Dry January® at work, have a look at some tips from Alcohol Change UK on how to encourage staff to take part in the challenge. Also, Health at work: Alcohol Awareness toolkit from British Heart Foundation can give you some ideas, tools and advice to organise successful alcohol awareness initiatives in your workplace. Below is the list of some resources that you could share with your staff:
DrinkAware Tools including MyDrinkaware app, Drinking Check self-assessment, as well as unit and calorie calculator
NHS: Drink less including NHS Drink Free Days app, Healthy Choices Quiz, and tips on how to cut down on alcohol
PROVIDE TRAINING FOR LINE MANAGERS
Line managers are crucial for identifying and addressing alcohol-related challenges at work. Training can equip managers with the skills, confidence and knowledge they need to manage alcohol misuse and support employees sensitively, effectively and in line with your workplace alcohol policy. They should be able to recognise early warning signs and know what to do if they suspect an employee has a problem or if they are approached by an employee who discloses a problem. Training can also help line managers to have open conversations about alcohol empathetically and proactively, and to signpost employees to appropriate resources and support services.
CREATE A WORKPLACE ALCOHOL POLICY
Your organisation should have a clear alcohol policy in place providing a framework for managing alcohol-related issues. The policy should be tailored to the individual needs and the nature of your workplace, organisational values, and industry standards.
The alcohol policy usually contains:
Processes for dealing with any cases when someone is believed to be under the influence of alcohol while at work
Expectations of employees, such as reporting any alcohol-related offences to an appropriate person
Guidance around provision and consumption of alcohol at work social events
Information on how to confidentially express concerns about someone’s drinking behaviour
Provision of confidential support and help for employees who are alcohol dependent
Contact details of specialist support services
Information on any mandatory alcohol testing in the workplace, including its goals, screening methods, tolerance levels, details of employee participation in screening, and the management of the outcomes
Disciplinary process, e.g. where help is refused by an employee, when performance is consistently poor due to alcohol abuse, or where an employee comes to work under the influence of alcohol and puts others at risk of harm
The policy should be communicated effectively to all employees to ensure they understand their roles, responsibilities, and expectations. This can include training sessions, digital channels such as the company intranet, as well as physical channels like handbooks and printouts. Furthermore, it’s critical to include policy training as part of the onboarding process for new employees. The policy should be monitored and reviewed periodically to assess its effectiveness and to make necessary updates.
More information and guidance on the alcohol policy in the workplace can be found here: Alcohol in the workplace: A guide to workplace alcohol policy for senior management (International Alliance for Responsible Drinking)
IMPROVE WORKPLACE CULTURE AROUND ALCOHOL
Alcohol often plays a role in workplace culture - whether through team celebrations, after-work drinks, teambuilding activities, or networking events. While these occasions can foster connection, they may also create peer pressure to consume alcohol and alienate those employees who don't drink due to physical and mental health reasons, pregnancy, religious beliefs, because they’ve quit or just simply don’t want to. According to a new report from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), 24% of employees feel pressure to drink at workplace events and over a third says drinking at work events excludes non-drinkers or creates cliques. Therefore, it’s important that leaders set an example and lead from the front, creating an inclusive work environment where all employees feel included, valued, and safe. This can include providing alcohol-free options at events, avoiding giving alcohol as a prize or reward, and encouraging team building activities that don’t rely on drinking.
CONSIDER WORKPLACE ALCOHOL SCREENING
Alcohol impairs vision, psychomotor abilities, reaction time and judgement about risk-taking, all of which can compromise workplace safety. These effects are particularly dangerous in safety-critical roles, such as those involving the operation of heavy machinery, driving vehicles, or using electrical equipment, putting not only the operator at risk, but also other colleagues and potentially members of the public. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimates that up to 40% of accidents at work involve or are related to alcohol use. Alcohol testing can play a vital role in ensuring the safety of everyone at work.
Screening depends on the circumstances within the specific workplace and workforce, and can involve for example:
Pre-placement Screening - used to ensure that employees starting work meet the standards of policies of employment. This is particularly common in safety-critical roles.
Random Screening - where individuals or groups of individuals are selected in a random way for testing. It acts as a deterrent against alcohol misuse.
For Cause Screening - used in situations where a breach of policy is suspected, i.e., change in behaviour, smell of alcohol or in the event of a workplace accident or near miss that suggests a dangerous situation could have occurred because employee was under the influence.
Workplace alcohol screening should be covered in your alcohol policy and employees must consent to it. You should also think carefully about the goal of the screening and how you will manage the results. If you would like to consider alcohol screening at your workplace, get in touch with us and we will help you organise this through our Drug & Alcohol Screening Service.
PROVIDE SUPPORT FOR EMPLOYEES WHO ARE ALCOHOL DEPENDANT
Regularly communicating the availability of resources and support can help reduce stigma and encourage employees to seek help if they are struggling with alcohol misuse. You could share information about different treatment options, support groups, counselling, as well as NHS alcohol addiction support services in the local area. There are also many organisations and charities that provide support both to those addicted to alcohol and people who are affected by someone else’s drinking.
DrinkAware provides a free Drinkchat with trained advisors and a Drinkline - free, confidential helpline for anyone who is concerned about their drinking, or someone else's.
AA is a free self-help group. Its programme involves getting sober with the help of regular support groups. Apart from AA meetings, they also offer free national helpline.
The website offers free and confidential advice on alcohol via online chat. It also has an online tool to find alcohol services in the local area.
SMART Recovery is a charity offering a national network of meetings and online training programmes with comprehensive teaching materials and manuals.
Adfam is a national charity working with families affected by drugs and alcohol. It operates an online message board and local support groups.
The groups offer support to the families and friends of people who are addicted to alcohol, whether they're still drinking or not. They offer free helpline and meetings both in-person and online.
Moreover, if employee discloses an issue with alcohol, you might want to refer them to Occupational Health for a confidential assessment to support them in the workplace. The OH Professional can provide recommendations on what could be done to support employee’s recovery, such as flexible hours, a phased return to work, or time off for treatment.
Having robust arrangements in place to manage alcohol misuse in the workplace can help employers ensure the safety of all staff, enhance productivity, reduce alcohol-related absenteeism, and improve overall business performance. Moreover, by providing support and resources for staff in need, employers can demonstrate care for their employees’ wellbeing and foster a supportive work culture.
To get more information and guidance on preventing and managing alcohol misuse at work, have a look at Business in the Community’s (BITC) Drugs, alcohol and tobacco: a toolkit for employers and Managing drug and alcohol misuse at work report from CIPD.
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