September is National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month. Your workers know that these addictions are harmful to them personally, but you need to also impress upon them that drug and alcohol addictions are potentially harmful to co-workers as well. Outline for them the following hazards of workplace drug use:
- Increased accidents and safety violations
- Distorted perceptions of time, space, and distance
- Slower reaction times
- Increased carelessness
- Unsafe machine operation
- Increased absenteeism and tardiness
- Increased workload for other workers
- Difficulties in reaching production goals
- Lower morale of other employees
- Other health problems
- Increased number of criminal incidents
- Theft of property from company to support a drug habit
- Theft of money from other employees to buy drugs
- Irrational or violent encounters with other employees
- Increased errors and defective products
- Expensive rejections and reworking
- Customer dissatisfaction and complaints
- Loss of sales
- Possible loss of government contracts
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You can further emphasize the seriousness of drug use in the workplace by outlining the various laws that prohibit it. Here’s a brief overview:
- The Drug-Free Workplace Act applies to recipients of federal grants or contracts of $25,000 or more. Requirements include:
- Enforced written drug-free workplace policy
- Educating employees about drug abuse dangers and treatments
- Imposing sanctions and/or demanding treatment for employees convicted of a drug-related crime in the workplace and notifying the contracting agency of the conviction
- The Americans with Disabilities Act does not consider current use of illegal drugs a disability. Employers may:
- Ban workplace drug and alcohol use or working under their influence.
- Fire or refuse to hire a current user of illegal drugs.
- The Omnibus Transportation Employee Testing Act requires random drug and alcohol testing of safety-sensitive employees in the aviation, highway, rail, and mass transit industries, with follow-up tests to confirm any positive results.
Make sure your employees know your employer’s policies on drugs in the workplace and abide by them, including:
- Banning drugs at work or working under their influence
- Penalties for workplace use, possession, or sale of illegal drugs
- Drug testing
- Employee assistance programs for drug abuse problems
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Why It Matters
- In one recent year, more than 75 percent of illegal drug users (13.1 million people) in the United States were employed full or part time – more than 3 percent say they’ve used illegal drugs on the job.
- Nearly 80 percent of adult binge drinkers (44 million people) were employed – and more than 7 percent say they’ve drunk on the job.
- More than 60 percent of adults classified with substance abuse problems (12.3 million) were employed.
- Substance abuse costs U.S. businesses more than $200 billion a year.