Could Alcohol and Drug Misuse be Costing You Money?
As someone who is
involved in a small business, you know how
important it is to get the most out of your
employees, and also how costly it can be to
hire and train new employees. Yet far too
many businesses are failing to prepare for
employees with substance issues, and are
facing re-hiring costs instead of helping
existing employees to rehabilitate.
Recent research by the
Chartered Institute of Personnel and
Development has found that despite 40% of
employees believing that alcohol misuse is a
significant cause of employee absence and
lost productivity; only 60% of businesses
have a policy in place to deal with the
issue. This is even more surprising
considering 31% of businesses have dismissed
at least one employee for alcohol problems,
and 15% have dismissed at least one employee
with drugs problem in the last two years.
The survey also found
employers could do much more to support
employees with substance dependency
problems, with only 38% of employers
providing co-ordinated rehabilitation
support to help individuals with drug or
alcohol problems return to work after
treatment. Only a half of employers provide
access to counselling or to occupational
health services for employees fighting drink
or drug problems.
Ben Willmott, CIPD
Employee Relations Adviser and author of the
report says: “Supporting employees with drug
and alcohol problems has a high success rate
with many individuals returning to work. But
organisations must make employees aware of
the policies and support in place otherwise
they will not have the confidence to hold
their hand up and acknowledge they have a
problem and need help.
”Since 2001 the number of organisations with
drug and alcohol policies has remained
around the same (58%) and where
organisations do have policies they are
doing very little to actively promote them.
Simply adding a policy to a rarely used
staff handbook is unlikely to ensure the
issue is seen as an ongoing priority.
Organisations should engage with their
employees to ensure that they are fully
aware of its provisions; this can be done
via staff briefings, poster or publicity
campaigns at work, internal notice boards
newsletters and email alerts.
”Training managers so that they are able to
identify and manage drugs and alcohol misuse
in the workplace is also essential. Yet only
a third of employers train managers in how
to manage these sorts of issues at work.
”Clearly drug and alcohol misuse is an issue
which needs to be taken seriously within the
workplace. The Health and Safety Executive
currently estimates that up to 14 million
working days are lost each year due to
alcohol related problems, costing British
industry an estimated £2 billion each year.”
The survey found that
where businesses refer employees with
substance difficulties to specialist
treatment or rehabilitation support, more
than 60% were able to manage their problem
and carry on working for the business. This
demonstrates that with your support the
problems can be dealt with.
By having a substance
misuse policy in place and by helping your
employee to deal with their problems; not
only can you help them to recover; you help
boost their loyalty to your business, avoid
having to dismiss them and advertise their
job, avoid needing to interview new
candidates, and avoid needing to hire and
then train the new employee.
For more information on employment issues
visit our You and Work portal.
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