Substance use - supporting employees with lived and living experience: guiding principles

‘Guiding Principles’

for supporting employees with lived and living experience of problematic substance use

Background

The ‘Guiding Principles’, and underpinning advice, set out in this document, serve as the response to Action 132 of the Drugs Deaths Taskforce ‘Changing Lives’ Final Report, which stated that: “The Scottish Government should commission guidance on how employees in recovery can be supported.”

The ‘Guiding Principles’ are informed by best practice and have been agreed following extensive discussions with stakeholders, across the drugs and alcohol sector. This has included seeking the views of those with proven track records of successfully supporting people with lived and living experience of problematic substance use into, and during employment.

The views of people with lived and living experience of problematic substance use have been central to the development of the ‘Guiding Principles’.^[1]

For brevity, and for the purposes of this document only, employees with lived and living experience of problematic substance are hereafter referred to as “people with experience”.

Who are the ‘Guiding Principles’ for?

• The ‘Guiding Principles’ are primarily aimed at organisations providing drug and alcohol treatment and support services. This sector already employs significant numbers of people with experience, and it is our ambition that the ‘Guiding Principles’ will be fully embraced across its entirety.
• However, people with experience are not confined to employment within drugs and alcohol services. Therefore, we want the sector to lead by example, embedding the ‘Guiding Principles’ and demonstrating to all employers across Scotland how best to realise the potential of people with experience in the workplace.
• The ‘Guiding Principles’ are of value to all employers seeking to follow best practice and ensure they provide the most appropriate level of care and support.
• Evidence tells us that employers will reap the benefits of a rewarded, respected, engaged, committed, diverse and more agile workforce through improved recruitment and retention, performance, innovation and productivity.
• Leaders have a critical role to play in championing the ‘Guiding Principles’ and creating a supportive, inclusive workplace.
• The ‘Guiding Principles’ support Fair Work. Fair Work offers a win-win-win: it is good for business, good for workers and good for the economy.

What is the purpose of the ‘Guiding Principles’?

• The World Health Organization regards substance dependency as a health condition. Those affected should receive the support they need, just as any employee dealing with any other health issue would.
• Where employers are unsure how best to support people with experience, then this uncertainty can, often inadvertently, lead to stigmatising practice. Such practice can inhibit employees from fulfilling their potential and limit organisational performance.
• The ‘Guiding Principles’ set out an approach to ensure greater consistency in how people with experience are supported in the workplace.
• We hope that employers will use the ‘Guiding Principles’ to lead by example and demonstrate:

1. How people with experience can be best supported within the workplace

2. The value that people with experience bring to the workplace

3. The critical role of employers in realising the potential of people with experience

• The ‘Guiding Principles’ affirm that people with experience should be treated with respect and dignity and supported to pursue worthwhile careers.

How can employers use the ‘Guiding Principles’?

• We recognise that you are best placed to understand how the ‘Guiding Principles’ should be embedded within your workplace.
• Our intention is not to stipulate how your organisation’s policies and procedures should be developed. Instead, we would encourage you to continually reflect on your existing practice and use the ‘Guiding Principles’ to identify where you may need to further develop.
• The ‘Guiding Principles’ will allow you to better understand how they can be applied. We hope this will allow you to consider how you may evolve relevant operational guidance, policy and practice, ensuring that problematic substance use is recognised as a health condition. This will enable you to provide the best possible workplace support.

Principle 1:

Employers should support people with experience to work.

Principle 2:

People with experience should have their strengths recognised by employers.

Principle 3:

People with experience should have dignity and fulfilment in their work.

Principle 4:

People with experience should have their work acknowledged, valued and respected by employers.

Principle 5:

People with experience should have appropriate support at work from employers.

Principle 6:

Employers should recognise that recovery is not always a linear process and that setbacks may occur.