Alcohol Use Disorders in the Workplace: A Business Risk

The generally held belief that alcohol consumption is a matter of personal choice, can make it difficult to identify an individual suffering from an alcohol use disorder (AUD).  While alcohol is the single most abused drug in the United States, with 14.1 million Americans suffering from AUD and another 25.8 million abusing alcohol, not enough employers think about alcohol use disorders in the workplace affects their business.^[1]

Alcohol Use Disorders in the Workplace – A National Problem for Employers

Approximately fifteen percent of American employees have been intoxicated due to alcohol while on the job, either from drinking before or during work.^[2]  Working while intoxicated increases the risk of work related injuries by seventy percent.[3] However, the problem is not limited to those who are working while intoxicated; more than five times as many employees come to work hungover.^[4]  These hungover workers also reduce productivity and raise serious safety issues.^[5]

Alcohol use disorders in the workplace is a major problem both in the workplace, and on the corporate road. An employee with an elevated blood alcohol level or who is hungover is at an increased risk for industrial accidents or vehicular crashes which can impact a company’s efficiency, safety, and bottom line.^[6]  While all occupations can be impacted by alcohol abuse, industries involved in mining, transportation, heavy machinery and construction have higher patterns of abuse.^[7] When an employee is injured or injures someone due to alcohol abuse the company can be liable under a number of legal theories.

Company Liability – Risks for the Business

Under the common law theory of vicarious liability, an employer is responsible for the wrongful acts or omissions of their employees during the scope of their employment.^[8]   Failure to take action about an employee who the employer knows or has reason to know has an elevated blood alcohol level can result in large monetary verdicts against a business.^[9]

A company can also be liable for negligent hiring.^[10]  A failure to take reasonable care in hiring an employee who has a history of AUD or alcohol abuse who then injures someone can result in a monetary judgement against the employer.^[11]

Finally, workers’ compensation, the employer funded system that indemnifies employees who are injured at work for medical treatment and lost wages, is another area for company liability.^[12] Most states require this form of insurance for businesses with employees who may suffer job-related injuries.  Studies have shown that workers who abuse alcohol were 2.7 times more likely than workers without drinking problems to suffer an on-the-job injury.^[13]  This in turn results in a larger number of claims, increasing a company’s insurance premiums, especially if the number of claims rises above the industry’s average.^[14]

5 Tips to Have an Alcohol and Other Drug-Free Workplace

These liability costs can quickly undercut a company’s profitability or even bankrupt it.  So, what can be done to counteract this problem? The answer is to create an alcohol and other drug-free workplace. Below are five tips to achieve that goal.

1.  Develop a workplace policy.

Don’t rely on a generic policy found on the internet. Work with the employees and develop a policy that focuses on the specific company.  It should address confidentiality, searches of employees and their property, drug testing, and require reporting of all drug related convictions. The policy must also comply with state and federal law.

2.  Train the supervisor.

Supervisors must be trained in detecting substance use and abuse. This training should include:

• the effects of alcohol and other drugs in the workplace;
• the supervisor’s role and responsibilities in a testing program;
• the reasonable suspicion standard;
• the alcohol and other drug testing process; and,
• how to interact and communicate with employees.^[15].   

3.  Develop an employee education program.

Create an educational approach that familiarizes employees with the company’s drug-free workplace program.  It should include a discussion about the dangers of alcohol and drug abuse and the types and sources of assistance that are available.

4.  Create an employee assistance program.

Employee assistance programs offer substance use counseling to an employee. Many health plans now offer such counseling. The goal is to work with the employee to overcome the disorder both for themselves and for the company.

5.  Develop and implement an alcohol and other drug testing program.

Any comprehensive workplace alcohol and other drug testing program should be based upon the reasonable suspicion standard.^[16]  The primary focus should be to deter employees rather than to identify and punish those who do use illegal drugs or misuse alcohol. However, any employee who tests positive must be required to enter into a plan of action through the company’s Employee Assistance Plan or released as employee.

Implementing these five tips can help reduce a company’s potential liability due an alcohol use disorders in the workplace turning into a workplace accident. They can improve a company’s bottom line, and ultimately better protect all of the company’s employees for the long term.

Footnotes

^[1] Alcohol Facts and Statistics

^{[2]  Prevalence and Distribution of Aclohol Use and Impairment in the Workplace: A U.S. National Survey}

[3] The Effects of Substance Use on Workplace Injuries 

^[4] Id

^[5] The Relationship of Drinking and Hangovers to Workplace Problems: An Empirical Study

^[6] Alcohol in the Workplace: The Causes and Effects of Workplace Drinking

^[7] These industries typically have a young male blue-collar workforce.

^[8] Vicarious Liability Employer Liability Employees Driving

^[9] Id.

^[10] Drug and Alcohol Testing in the Workplace: The Employers’ Perspective

^[11] Id.

^[12] Employee Drinking: How to Minimize Your Company’s Liability

^[13] Webb, G.R., Redman, S, Hennrikus, D.J., Kelman, G.R., Gibberd, R.W., Sanson-Fisher, R.W. 1994.

^[14] How to Calculate Workers’ Compensation Cost Per Employee

^{[15] To Test or Not to Test – Reasonable Suspicion in the Workplace}

^[16]  Id.  Reasonable suspicion testing must be based on individualized suspicion of a particular employee, and employers need to document objective facts that would suggest to a reasonable person that the individual is under the influence in violation of company policy.