The holidays have ended, but that doesn’t mean substance abuse has stopped as of January 1. Some employers may feel that it’s common for employees to indulge over the course of the holiday season, however what happens when those employees return to work?
The beginning of the year is a great time to institute a random drug testing policy at your workplace. A random drug test policy to be one of the best tools employers have for preventing drug and alcohol use in the workplace, especially after the holidays.
Substance abuse can be damaging in the workplace. It can lower productivity, and revenue, as well as cause an unsafe environment for customers and other employees. According to the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence Inc. (NCADD), drug abuse costs employers up to $81 billion annually. Random testing allows employers to decrease health insurance premiums by reducing drug-related injuries and illnesses. With a drug-free workplace policy, employers can randomly test employees for compliance.
Employees cannot get the support they need from their employers to battle their addictions if their employers don’t know about the problem. Random testing is often the first step toward recovery. Instituting a legally sound random drug testing policy is a difficult undertaking for most businesses to tackle on their own. KRESS is here to help. We help employers large and small across the Houston area implement smart, tailored, random drug testing policies that keep their business safe from unnecessary danger and liabilities. We always recommend that random drug testing policies include employee assistance programs (EAPs). These programs ensure that employees are not simply cut loose after violating your company’s drug and alcohol policy and can get the help they need to return to work productively. EAPs help thousands of workers beat their substance abuse issues every year.
If you’d like to know more about how KRESS can help your business combat drug abuse after the holidays or throughout the year, contact us today. We have the expertise your business needs to create and implement a policy that works for everyone.