Substance Abuse in the Workplace
Employers and employees not only face issues such as, discrimination, glass ceiling, low skill level, and low productivity; but they also encounter one of the most serious problems of Substance Abuse at the workplace. The issue represents the usage of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs by the personnel during their working hours for some complex reasons; or for the purpose of mood-altering (Buddy, 2009). Substance abuse is become more and more common these days in the workplaces; especially in the American Organizations; this issue is viewed by the American employers as a crucial problem in their workplaces.
The survey was conducted in 64 largest cities of the United States relating to the problem; and the respondents were the CEOs, Human Resource executives, Governors, and Mayors. The survey was designed to ascertain the impact of substance abuse on the workplace, the cost that employers bear, and the measures that are being taken to minimize the problem. According to the survey, the issue of substance abuse is a complicated and inflexible one that is even obstructing the measures taken against it. The group of CEOs is pessimistic about the problem because they don’t see the impact of the measures taken to curb the issue; the problem is even increasing.
Out of the total respondents, 88% of them believe that the issue is ‘quite significant’ in the country; whereas, 81% have the prediction that the problem will further worsen if solid precautionary measures are not taken by the public sector. Respondents are not happy with the awareness programs being undertaken by the country, and 72% of them believe that the public resources for restraining the problem are inadequate.
Issues related to the Problem
Of course, there is isn’t any single problem attached to the issue of substance abuse; there are several problems that go hand in hand with each other and affect business, employers, employees, and the nation as a whole. Lower class people are not the only victims of substance abuse; in fact, the upper class is also victimized by it. The issues are highlighted as under with respect to the employers/organizations and employees, respectively.
Effects on Employers
Employers are affected in the increasing demands of the employees for their health benefits. Three key problems for the employers are; 1 – There are increased medical claims from the employees. The CEO group says that it costs up to 15% of the payroll to them, which can vary from 1 to 200 million dollars. 2 – Absenteeism is another great concern for the employers; the absence of employees makes it difficult for the company to perform the necessary tasks and achieve the stated goals. 3 – The absence of employees has a direct impact on the productivity of the organization. Since employees get absent and those who are present don’t perform to their potential, hence resulting in the decreased productivity for the company.
Effects on Employees
Of course, employees are the one who are affected first before the company; some major concerns for the employees include; 1 – Absenteeism, it is estimated from the survey that those employees who indulge in substance abuse are likely to get absent around 2 to 6 times more than those who don’t indulge in such activities. 2 – Worksite Accidents, employees often don’t know what they are actually doing. Self-harming due to depression or unconsciousness can lead them to encounter accidents during their working hours. 3 – The patience of employees is poorly affected by the drug usage; they lose their temper quite often, treat their counterparts badly, and violate the disciplinary rules in their workplace.
Other costs of substance abuse include; increased disability benefits, worker’s compensation benefits, time and resources spent to handle disciplinary problems, costs of recruiting, training, and turnover, low work quality, and lower employee morale.
Implications for the Employers, Employees, and Society
Employers are considered to have a great responsibility for the increase or decrease of the substance abuse problem. According to the survey, 74% of the CEO group has formal programs or policies designed to counter the issue; whereas, 15% of them say that such policies are being developed. The programs that are designed include; 1 – Employee assistance programs, and 2 – Employee wellness programs, and 3 – Pre-employment drug-testing. Most of the respondents favor the first activity (mentioned above) as being part of their program.
Cost Management is not practised by most of the employers; only 24% of the respondents possess “preferred provider arrangements for substance abuse” that really helps them to curtail the cots. Moreover, 37% of them use Utilization review (UR), which is the most widely used method to reduce costs or manage the expenses incurred by substance abuse treatment. Many of the employers have adopted the cost management design of shifting the expenses over the employees. The respondents or employers were asked about their satisfaction level, which revealed that they (68% of them) are very satisfied with the way their organization is working against the substance abuse problem.
As far as the implications for the society and employees are concerned, it is the duty of the government to impose certain laws that act as an obstruction in the way of substance issue problem. Survey indicates that around two-third of the CEOs, governors, and mayors are in favor of increasing the educational efforts as compared to activities related to law enforcement. The tangible benefits of solving the problem would include; increased awareness about the issue among the employees would definitely restrain them indulging in such activities; less absenteeism, higher employee morale, higher productivity, higher profits, higher compensation in terms of bonuses, and better satisfaction with the job and workplace. Moreover, the costs of employers would be minimized that would lead to increased efficiency within the organization.
On the other hand, if the issue is not addressed, the consequences could be harsh. Employers would continue to face losses and productivity; employees would further be trapped in the drugs that would lead them to depression, addiction, low morale and hope, poor relationships with others, and increased isolation. If the usage of drugs would increase, then of course, the crime rates such as, rape, theft, and murder would also rise. Policies designed against the level of substance use and its negative impact can mitigate the problems related to health (WHO, 2009).
Therefore, it is the duty of all citizens especially, the government and low enforcement agencies to impose certain laws and increase the budget for education purposes to aware the people about the issue. Such precautionary measures must be taken by the state to reduce the substance abuse problem in order to avoid the expenditure made in billions of dollars to fight against the consequences of substance abuse (Buddy, 2009). Moreover, organizations must be rigid in dealing with the issue and must decrease the salary, health compensation, and other benefits for their addicted employees.
The survey was conducted in 64 largest cities of the United States relating to the problem; and the respondents were the CEOs, Human Resource executives, Governors, and Mayors. The survey was designed to ascertain the impact of substance abuse on the workplace, the cost that employers bear, and the measures that are being taken to minimize the problem. According to the survey, the issue of substance abuse is a complicated and inflexible one that is even obstructing the measures taken against it. The group of CEOs is pessimistic about the problem because they don’t see the impact of the measures taken to curb the issue; the problem is even increasing.
Out of the total respondents, 88% of them believe that the issue is ‘quite significant’ in the country; whereas, 81% have the prediction that the problem will further worsen if solid precautionary measures are not taken by the public sector. Respondents are not happy with the awareness programs being undertaken by the country, and 72% of them believe that the public resources for restraining the problem are inadequate.
Issues related to the Problem
Of course, there is isn’t any single problem attached to the issue of substance abuse; there are several problems that go hand in hand with each other and affect business, employers, employees, and the nation as a whole. Lower class people are not the only victims of substance abuse; in fact, the upper class is also victimized by it. The issues are highlighted as under with respect to the employers/organizations and employees, respectively.
Effects on Employers
Employers are affected in the increasing demands of the employees for their health benefits. Three key problems for the employers are; 1 – There are increased medical claims from the employees. The CEO group says that it costs up to 15% of the payroll to them, which can vary from 1 to 200 million dollars. 2 – Absenteeism is another great concern for the employers; the absence of employees makes it difficult for the company to perform the necessary tasks and achieve the stated goals. 3 – The absence of employees has a direct impact on the productivity of the organization. Since employees get absent and those who are present don’t perform to their potential, hence resulting in the decreased productivity for the company.
Effects on Employees
Of course, employees are the one who are affected first before the company; some major concerns for the employees include; 1 – Absenteeism, it is estimated from the survey that those employees who indulge in substance abuse are likely to get absent around 2 to 6 times more than those who don’t indulge in such activities. 2 – Worksite Accidents, employees often don’t know what they are actually doing. Self-harming due to depression or unconsciousness can lead them to encounter accidents during their working hours. 3 – The patience of employees is poorly affected by the drug usage; they lose their temper quite often, treat their counterparts badly, and violate the disciplinary rules in their workplace.
Other costs of substance abuse include; increased disability benefits, worker’s compensation benefits, time and resources spent to handle disciplinary problems, costs of recruiting, training, and turnover, low work quality, and lower employee morale.
Implications for the Employers, Employees, and Society
Employers are considered to have a great responsibility for the increase or decrease of the substance abuse problem. According to the survey, 74% of the CEO group has formal programs or policies designed to counter the issue; whereas, 15% of them say that such policies are being developed. The programs that are designed include; 1 – Employee assistance programs, and 2 – Employee wellness programs, and 3 – Pre-employment drug-testing. Most of the respondents favor the first activity (mentioned above) as being part of their program.
Cost Management is not practised by most of the employers; only 24% of the respondents possess “preferred provider arrangements for substance abuse” that really helps them to curtail the cots. Moreover, 37% of them use Utilization review (UR), which is the most widely used method to reduce costs or manage the expenses incurred by substance abuse treatment. Many of the employers have adopted the cost management design of shifting the expenses over the employees. The respondents or employers were asked about their satisfaction level, which revealed that they (68% of them) are very satisfied with the way their organization is working against the substance abuse problem.
As far as the implications for the society and employees are concerned, it is the duty of the government to impose certain laws that act as an obstruction in the way of substance issue problem. Survey indicates that around two-third of the CEOs, governors, and mayors are in favor of increasing the educational efforts as compared to activities related to law enforcement. The tangible benefits of solving the problem would include; increased awareness about the issue among the employees would definitely restrain them indulging in such activities; less absenteeism, higher employee morale, higher productivity, higher profits, higher compensation in terms of bonuses, and better satisfaction with the job and workplace. Moreover, the costs of employers would be minimized that would lead to increased efficiency within the organization.
On the other hand, if the issue is not addressed, the consequences could be harsh. Employers would continue to face losses and productivity; employees would further be trapped in the drugs that would lead them to depression, addiction, low morale and hope, poor relationships with others, and increased isolation. If the usage of drugs would increase, then of course, the crime rates such as, rape, theft, and murder would also rise. Policies designed against the level of substance use and its negative impact can mitigate the problems related to health (WHO, 2009).
Therefore, it is the duty of all citizens especially, the government and low enforcement agencies to impose certain laws and increase the budget for education purposes to aware the people about the issue. Such precautionary measures must be taken by the state to reduce the substance abuse problem in order to avoid the expenditure made in billions of dollars to fight against the consequences of substance abuse (Buddy, 2009). Moreover, organizations must be rigid in dealing with the issue and must decrease the salary, health compensation, and other benefits for their addicted employees.
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Substance Abuse,
Substance Abuse in the Workplace
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