Instituting a drug-free workplace along with mandatory drug
testing for new hires can be costly for the business, however drug use and
abuse can also be costly as well due to absenteeism, accidents, downtime,
turnover, theft, morale, and loss productivity.
According to the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence,
Inc. “Drug Abuse has an estimated cost
of $81 billion annually” and implementing a drug-free workplace can help cut
down on that cost. Absenteeism is
considered one of the major problems associated with drug abuse at the
workplace because it has a direct effect on productivity and “it also
compromises employee safety because workers who lack familiarity with
procedures and work environments and who substitute for absent employees, put themselves
at greater risk for accidents than workers who are not absent (Goodman &
Garber, 1988)” as quoted in (McFarlin, 2001).
Accidents are more likely to occur when employees’ abuse drugs because of
the effects that drugs have on the human brain individuals that are under the
influence will have difficulties concentrating on their job that can result in
mistakes that can be detrimental. Drug
abuse can “kill and/or damage brain cells” ("Drugs change your
brain," 2003) making it very difficult for an individuals to function
normally at the workplace which could directly impact productivity because they
are having difficulties understanding the functions of the job which can result
in increased downtime because individuals will try their best to avoid actually
doing the work. The turnover rate
increases because many people that abuse drugs have a difficult time maintaining
employment because they are more focused on their addiction so if employers
require mandatory drug testing that it is possible to cut down on the turnover
rate along with absenteeism and productivity.
Theft is a major problem in all organizations for many different
reasons, however it can be more of a problem with drug abusers because they may
not have the funds to feed their addiction so they will steal from their
employer. The morale of the company
“refers to employees’ shared attitudes toward identification with the elements
of their job, working conditions, fellow workers, supervisors, and general
management” (Crossley, 2007) and if drug abuse is present in the workplace it
could bring down the morale of the company due to conflict that could arise
amongst employees. The morale of the company is extremely important because it
provides employees with a source of encouragement, therefore instituting
mandatory drug-testing can help boost the morale by showing the employees that
the company is concerned about their well-being.
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