AT WORK
Employee drinking and drug abuse cost all businesses in productivity, healthcare
By Chad Graham
The Des Moines Register
Let's say an average finance company in an American city has 1,000 employees. Ever wonder how it's affected by alcohol abuse?
- Number of office problem drinkers: 54.
- Number of employee family members who are problem drinkers: 127.
- Number of workdays the company loses each year to sickness, injury and absence because of problem drinking: 1,099.
- Amount companies pay in alcohol-related healthcare costs: $265,762.
The data is from researchers at George Washington University Medical Center, who have set up a cost calculator (alcoholcostcalculator.org) for companies struggling with the issue.
Almost all businesses are affected by substance abuse. The federal government estimates that 7.4 percent of full-time workers ages 18 to 49 — 6.5 million people — have a drinking problem.
Of the nation's 12.3 million illicit-drug users, 77 percent are employed. The highest rates of illicit-drug use and heavy drinking are among white men 18 to 25 years old with less than a high school education, according to the Department of Labor.
Movies historically have painted a deceptive portrait of office partying. In "9 to 5," stars Dolly Parton, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin smoke pot to relax. Margaret, the office alcoholic, appears in a couple of humorous scenes before she is finally cleaned up.
In reality, office drug and alcohol abuse is not comical, said Sheila Murphy, supervisor of clinical services at Powell Chemical Dependency Center at Iowa Lutheran Hospital in Des Moines.
Murphy knows plenty of stories about people who have been brazen enough to use marijuana — and even crack cocaine — in the parking lot or bathroom at work.
The users believe they're masters at hiding their addictions from the boss. In reality, the boss probably knows something is wrong and may initiate random drug tests.
How does a person know when he or she needs help?
"If I begin to experience consequences, then that's a time to look at it," Murphy said. "Maybe that's missing work or feeling sick in the morning after being out drinking. It could also be an ... arrest for public intoxication or being picked up after a drug screen from work. It could be a spouse or friend saying, 'I'm really concerned about your usage.' Those are red flags."
What about 20-somethings who enter the work world but have not removed their college party hats?
Murphy says many people abuse drugs and alcohol in college, but change their behavior when they transition into the workforce.
"The problem is with the people who don't change those behaviors, who think they can still go to work 40 hours a week and go out every night," she said.
One in five people covered by health insurance is reluctant to get help for substance abuse out of fear it might affect their future with the company, according to the researchers.
At the same time, 92 percent of large and middle-size companies "offer employees less generous health insurance coverage for treatment of alcoholism than for treating other chronic illnesses," the researchers found.
What's a worker to do after finally admitting to a problem?
Get help immediately, and don't be too concerned about your boss or co-workers, advises Jim Aipperspach, president of the Iowa Association of Business and Industry.
You want to nip the problem before getting busted in a drug test, he said. Obviously, the best alternative is to find a confidential program through the human resources department. If that isn't available, consider having a private discussion with a supervisor.
"I don't know of any company supervisor, manager or executive of any Iowa company who would not want to do anything they could in that situation to help their employee," Aipperspach said. "My sense is that if the employees are going to take the step to get help, they're going to receive it.
