What is a Recovery Friendly Workplace?

A Recovery-Friendly Workplace is, at its core, just a place that treats all employees with compassion, dignity and respect. Creating one may involve giving employees in recovery some flexibility and accommodations to maintain their sobriety and well-being, or to address mental health issues.

Putting a work-life recovery program into effect might also mean showing empathy to employees who currently struggle with drug or alcohol addiction. Helping these employees get healthy will give them the chance to shine. The best outcome for you is a reinvigorated employee who’s motivated, loyal and ready to contribute their full potential.

There’s plenty of stigma surrounding addiction, recovery and mental health, and some employers balk at addressing it or even (knowingly) hiring someone with a past problem. But workers who are in recovery can bring a lot to the table. Many extremely high-functioning, intelligent and effective employees in recovery can help your company succeed and grow; these people have already developed the resilience and willpower to beat addiction. But they need to feel welcomed and supported in order to do their best work.