Coke taking Christmas parties and work colleagues

kerryjack

Was at Christmas party and have never seen as much open coke taking as this year, I was shocked at some of my hardworking work colleagues who I have lost all respect for. Like is this normal behaviour now and totally acceptable. Like there is drug testing in the organisation but I persume it will be gone out of system when they all get back to work.

893bet

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058328468/coke-taking-christmas-parties-and-work-colleagues

What’s the business you work in?

ax530

Where was the party on in office or public place? Either way sure it an offense to her sit there taking drugs.

As previous poster said they are contributing towards so much crime I would not let it slide report somewhere with organisation and to Gardai.

jackboy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121540380#Comment_121540380

Before reporting it you would want to be 100% sure HR were not also involved in the drug taking and they did not know about it. Things could get very messy.

headtheball14

If you didn't say anything at the time then why are you having a problem now.

if you were uncomfortable then you should have said something or left. i really can't see the point of involving hr unless you think this has a direct impact on their work .

You could have a one on one with them if you have a relationship but otherwise what do you want to achieve?

iniscealtra

That’s not ok. I would report it to my boss or HR. It’s an illegal activity and if it’s a work event jasus.

mickdw

Keep you own nose clean, (pun intended) and let them off. No point getting tangled up in that mess and as said above, HR staff likely equally involved.

Ezeoul

What do you expect to outcome to be, if you bring this up to HR or the Gardaí now? What's done is done.

My HR issued a strongly worded email before our official Christmas Party, outlining the conduct expected of employees at said party. It included no excessive drinking, no inappropriate behaviour or sexual harassment, and definitely no use of illegal substances.

Unless your HR did something like this, than I think the most you can expect by raising it after the fact, is them issuing an email like the above next year.

Don't expect any criminal investigations to come out of this.

kerryjack

I won't be reporting anything to any one because what I saw is that they were all at it and I was offered a bit myself but refused it, we had kind of of our own function room with a free bar and things were fairly messy. Not nice to see young colleagues with kids at home just don't like it.

I personally wouldn't be bothered reporting it. If as the OP has highlighted the was open for all to see then it would seem to be an accepted culture from Management within the organisation. (Maybe Finance OP)

Ezeoul

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121540431#Comment_121540431

I can understand that, it's not the kind of party I would enjoy either - but adults are going to do what they want on their own time.

Sometimes you just have to let them off.

AllForIt

I'm dreaming of a white xmas

Unlike the one I used to know

crustyjuggler

Talk to Joe Duffy .

What you have just witnessed was the Real pandemic in this country. Addiction.

Dont be too shocked, so many people are hooked on it

Ash.J.Williams

What i find hilarious about the cocaine epidemic is the assholes in every town that always looked down on people smoking weed or taking yokes etc are all mad into coke now , the GAA should be worried

The worrying thing is they all do it so they can drink more , I know one alcoholic that finds coke a godsend

_H80_GHT

The office worker we'd all hate to have.

kerryjack

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121540816#Comment_121540816

Not in office job but you are right that I should not have been there and will not go next year and now have an excuse not to next year, didn't want to go this year but managment made a big deal about going to it, team building and bonding and all that lark.

Charles Babbage

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121540830#Comment_121540830

Write to HR and suggest that an exlicit warning about illegal drug use be issued before next year's party. If the do this then you'll have a basis for other action next year, if they do not do it then do not go and state that you don't want to be among takers of illegal drugs.

facehugger99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121540370#Comment_121540370

Snitches get stitches.

jackboy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121540842#Comment_121540842

Writing to HR with demands is not a good career strategy.

Personally I would be angry about this, I would be reporting it for a magnitude of reasons:

Cocaine feeds the drug cartels and contributes to great amounts of crime, not only in Ireland but all over the world.

Cocaine use causes behavioural problems, and when a person uses it when doing anything important like driving, working in a job where safety is important, looking after children, lives are put at risk.

Cocaine is a very dangerous drug. It was stopped in medical use for the very good reason it can cause sudden cardiac death. There are any number of examples of this happening with well-known figures.

Lastly, any company would/should want to know that key employees are using cocaine as it could badly affect the business and company’s reputation.

Back in the day I’ve reported at least one colleague who had severe alcoholism and was drinking throughout the day and some of the time working with children. She had become unreliable, careless, incoherent. Yes, she was sacked or left the job, but I was happy to see that decades later this very intelligent person dealt with her issues admirably.

Turning a blind eye helps nobody and only contributes to the cycle of dysfunctional life.

🙈🙉🙊

lbunnae

Jesus Christ don’t go near HR about it. Good lord. I say that as someone who doesn’t touch it but like that is extremely naive advice and I’d be hesitant if the people giving it would actually do the same.

Ash.J.Williams

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121540868#Comment_121540868

It was a party not a work environment

Mrs OBumble

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121540884#Comment_121540884

An employer organised party is a work environment.

If HR were involved, I'd be job hunting now.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121540418#Comment_121540418

Set up a throw away email account and email HR and the CEO and leave it at that. If they don’t take some kind of action (even if just token) then start planning a job search.

what people do in their own time is their business but if they are openly breaking the law in each others company it’s a work environment I wouldn’t want to be involved with

Jim2007

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121540414#Comment_121540414

First of all it is not OK and people get a way with this kind of crap because people are will to turn the other way. Secondly and far more important is the impact decision making and a safe working environment. If people are openly doing this, then you can be sure they won't have any qualms about going into work after wards. If these people are operating machines etc... then it could very well impact others in the work place or in public.

The OP said testing is part of the culture, which almost always means there is a safety reason for this.....

Ash.J.Williams

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121540951#Comment_121540951

Every building site is rampant

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121540951#Comment_121540951

Though employers have responsibility at work outings, really it was a social event. It’s not ok, but it isn’t really something the op should get embroiled in by reporting to HR. Whether we like it or not, social drug use is now a fact of life. From a career perspective, nothing good can come from the op reporting his/her colleagues, HR will likely view it as use on their own time.

Ubbquittious

Stryker?

listermint

Fueling this. But they couldn't care less.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058328271/shooting-in-main-street-blanchardstown

Ash.J.Williams

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121540973#Comment_121540973

He hasn't mentioned casual sex yet

Ash.J.Williams

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121540984#Comment_121540984

That's the argument society puts forward when they've lost control

Del2005

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121540951#Comment_121540951

The majority of people don't drink alcohol at work and I'm sure there was a lot more alcohol drank than coke taken, just because someone does something at a party doesn't mean that they'll do it at work.

If the drug taking was so rampant then management and HR already know, if management and HR don't know then the OP is exaggerating. It's not like people haven't been doing drugs in the jacks or popping pills as they go out for years.

_H80_GHT

I meant to reply to the fella who would report it to HR.

listermint

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121540990#Comment_121540990

No not really. You buy it from these people. They literally murder each other for that cash. People have as much responsibility for this as the lads murdering each other. No market no cash. Own it. It's disingenuous to shirk personal responsibility tbh

Furze99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121540431#Comment_121540431

They're just f** themselves and their health up.

geronimo123

Not a nice situation, but I would advise you to stay well away from HR, let them do the job they're paid well to do - they're probably well aware of the situation already. As you get older, you accept it's best just to do your own job and keep you head down at work - let HR do the company's bidding

Ginger83

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121540791#Comment_121540791

Forgive my ignorance but how does it let you drink

Hoboo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121540358#Comment_121540358

Everyone elses

Hoboo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121540970#Comment_121540970

No they won’t, a work party is an extension of work, there’s already case law on it, can’t remember the cases off hand, one was an assault that happened at a party after the work party.

scottser

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121540884#Comment_121540884

A work party is a work environment. You're expected to show some restraint and maturity, the same as you would at work.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121541705#Comment_121541705

Behave.

Everyone of them will deny it leaving the op swinging in the wind.

Conall Cernach

I work in a venue that has Christmas work parties every year and every year the toilets are destroyed with coke. Nothing would give us greater satisfaction than someone tapping us on the shoulder and saying "there's 2 lads in that cubicle hoovering up half of Colombia." Such lads get frog-marched out the door and have to explain their absence themselves. If that results in their HR people having words with them I really could not care less.

Jackiebt

Not condoning the drug taking but I'd mind my own business. If you report it how can you be sure it won't come back to you? I wouldn't fancy working in a place where I dropped a dime on colleagues, it'd be hell.

whisky_galore

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121541754#Comment_121541754

Exactly. If a sexual assault happens at a work party, it becomes a work environment very quickly.

It's pretty sad state of affairs where the stuff that fuels a Wild West style shoot up and stabbing in a restaurant packed with people at xmas is totally normalised and everyone turns a blind eye to this fúckery. Gonna be fun when the party powder people come crawling to rehab to wean them off down the road.

jackboy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121541824#Comment_121541824

Also, without rock hard evidence there could be disciplinary action if individuals are accused. You can't just tell HR someone is on cocaine with no proof.

iniscealtra

You can absolutely tell HR that there was open cocaine use at the Christmas party. You don’t have to mention names. Just say that it made the atmosphere extremely uncomfortable and unprofessional.

Danny Drier

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058328468/coke-taking-christmas-parties-and-work-colleagues

Report to HR and demand compo in the form of promotion or increased/ad hoc bonus for the stress that’s been caused to you or else you get Gardai involved

Lewis_Benson

All Conor McGregor fans I'd say.

They all think he is the king of the world, so follow his lead in shoving crap up their noses.

Mentioned already, but an official work night out is basically an extension of work. That can mean from start of party until you get home work rules apply.

If people can't handle their drink or temper they should never attend such events. I know people in pervious jobs that were sacked for fighting at a party, and another who was sacked for fighting with a bouncer. Zero tolerance in a lot of companies.

As for the OP, if you want to report to HR maybe do it annonomoisly with a unidentified email account. You could cc some senior management. If you do that they'll need to address it, and it won't personally affect your future prospect at work etc.

whisky_galore

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121542721#Comment_121542721

All sorts are taking it these days.

It is funny when middle class types who seek out cruelty free plant based foods and ethically sourced goods leave their conscience at reception when it comes to coke.