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IS DRUG SCREENING TOO COSTLY TO DO OR DO WITHOUT? ONE COMPANY HAS THE ANSWER!
The director of telemarketing operations at a financial services
company looks out across his 3600 square foot call center on a
typical Monday morning. "Look at all those empty chairs", he
laments. "It is sickly Monday and my partiers are taking their
usual unscheduled day long break". The problem of the "three day
weekend" or absenteeism in general doesn't just affect the
manager in this setting. What about the other 80% of the work
force who showed up? They are now burdened with additional
duties while filling the vacancies that have temporarily
developed.
With the challenge of recruiting qualified workers becoming more
difficult all over the nation, the last thing American
businesses can afford is to have major portions of its existing
work force abusing drugs - on or off the job. The truth is that
most employees do not engage in illicit drug use and most do not
want to work side-by-side with drug abusers. A majority of
employees are parents who are concerned about the effects of
drug abuse on their children, now and in the future. Given this
profile of the typical American workers, it is clear that
substance-abuse prevention can and should be viewed as a common
concern of both employers and employees.
We interviewed one company that has recognized the true damage
that drugs in the workplace causes and why it is still
prevalent. Labwire, Inc. (www.labwire.com), a Houston, Texas
based developer of online security solutions, began addressing
what many medium and large size companies have consistently
failed to address--the true cost effectiveness of their testing
programs. "What stops companies from being effective about drug
prevention in the workplace is the apparent cost to do so",
states Dexter Morris, President of the company. "What most
companies don't understand is the wasted cost of NOT using the
latest in technology management in handling such issues," he
added.
Drug use in the workplace costs this country billions of dollars
every year in lost productivity, increased health problems and
workplace accidents, to say nothing of the problems it causes us
at the federal and state level with associated family problems.
Contrary to the typical portrayal of drug abusers, many
apparently functional drug and alcohol abusers manage to hold
down full or part-time jobs, masking their destructive problem
from their employers. In fact, over seventy four percent of all
current illegal drug and heavy alcohol * users hold down some
type of job. *(Those drinking five or more drinks per occasion
on five or more days in the 30 days preceding the survey).
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, more than 8 million
Americans use some type of illegal substance.
The overall cost of illicit drug abuse is estimated to have been
$160.7 billion in 2000, and 69 percent of these costs are from
productivity losses due to drug-related illnesses and deaths.
Reducing substance abuse positively impacts America's economic
landscape.
Medium businesses bear the greatest burden of substance abusers.
Traditionally, larger employers participate in drug-free
workplace practices. As a result, medium to large employers who
do not have drug free workplace policies in place are - in
essence - adversely selected against in terms of the employees
that are left to hire. Another thing to note is that substance
abusers will steer away from drug-free workplace companies. They
will work for those businesses that don't have a policy or a
program and where there is no drug testing involved. Let's face
it, no abuser wants to be detected.
"The fact that medium and large size companies are at greatest
risk is why we developed our web-based employee screening
process. Any company can deploy this system inside of 30 days",
says Morris confidently. "In fact, we can train up to 100 human
resource people on how to use our system in only 60 minutes
online".
Morris went on to say that just the cost of workers compensation
claims can bury a company. Drug-using employees are 3.6 times
more likely to be involved in workplace accidents and five times
more likely to file a workers' compensation claim. Between
thirty eight and fifty percent of all workers' compensation
claims are related to substance abuse per the National
Council
on Compensation Insurance.. Substance abusers are three times
more likely to use medical benefits than other employees.
According to Edward Poole, president and COO of OHS Health and
Safety Services Inc., in Costa Mesa, Calif., several government
and private industry studies concluded that each drug user in
the workplace "can cost an employer an average of
$11,000-$13,000 annually." Despite studies and surveys that
indicate a significant number of substance abusers hold jobs and
work while under the influence, Poole points out that many
employers have an "it can't happen here" attitude about
substance abuse in the workplace. "Once they get in there and
implement a policy and start testing employees, they're usually
very surprised by the results," he says.
Poole tells the story of one client who operated a small, local
delivery service. When a representative from OHS Health and
Safety Services visited the business owner, he stated repeatedly
that there was no reason to conduct drug testing in that
workplace. After all, the company had only 63 employees. After a
couple of years of rebuffing them, the delivery service owner
called OHS to start up an immediate screening program.
Apparently the company had a change of heart after observing
unusual behavior in their workforce. OHS showed up unannounced
one day after performing roughly 45 days of drug free workplace
education, and did what's called a "sweep." They were going to
test every employee in the workplace.
Nine people immediately walked off the job. Says Poole, "One or
two probably had deeply rooted beliefs in the right to privacy
and all that crap, but it is probably safe to say that most of
those nine employees would have tested positive." Out of the 54
who took the drug test, 19 tested positive for marijuana and
several tested positive for cocaine as well. "The employer was
shocked," says Poole, "Most employers have no clue how many
employees are working under the influence."
Once a company decides to confront its potential workplace issue
regarding illicit drug use the problem of finding the
appropriate security company crops up. "There are a lot of
companies professing to have the expertise to address drug
screening issues", Morris cautions. "Just find out what their
track record is and talk to some of their clients".
Many companies are heading the warnings about drug abuse in the
workplace. According to data on companies that test employees,
drug testing increased from twenty one and a half percent to
almost eighty five percent in one six year period - a two
hundred and fifty percent increase. Recent evidence suggests
that drug testing has now leveled off and in fact has decreased
slightly, but primarily among medium businesses. National
studies indicate that sixty six percent of the country's largest
firms engage in some type of drug testing. Among Fortune 500
companies, during the late 1980s and early 1990s, drug testing
likewise increased in use. For example, in 1985 about eighteen
percent of Fortune 500 companies tested their employees. The
number increased to a high point of forty percent by 1991. Among
Fortune 1000 firms, forty eight percent of employees are subject
to drug testing.
"These are good trends overall", says Morris when asked about
the increase in drug screening across the US. The weakness in
screening program administrations (drug testing and background
screens) by medium and large size businesses is the increasing
focus of Labwire's business model. "We know what the solution is
for tens of thousands of companies, and we are it", concludes
Morris. With companies like Labwire, who are building affordable
applications, coming onto the scene, maybe your call center
manager will have better attendance on future Monday mornings.
Laura Betterly Press Direct International
www.pressdirectinternational.org
About the author:
Press Direct International is a global information web site
providing indispensable information tailored for professionals
in the financial services, media and corporate markets. Our
information is trusted and drives decision making across the
globe. We have a reputation for speed, accuracy and freedom from
bias. For more info visit www.pressdirectinternational.org
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