Alcohol is estimated to cause between 3-5% of all absences from work. Drinking
the night before has led to many employees calling in sick. This means that the
employer has to deal with the lost productivity and missed deadlines.
As a result, alcohol and drug abuse causes extensive and expensive problems for
employers.
However, it is not the so-called alcoholic that causes the most damage to your
productivity. It is the social drinker.
Casual drinkers could be your biggest problem.
A recent study has revealed that the casual or social drinker is responsible for
most of the lost productivity, as they are regularly absent from work because of
hangovers.
The same study indicated that it was managers who drank during the work day.
The main areas of concern for employers are the following:
? Loss of productivity and poor performance as employees are not able to
concentrate;
? Lateness and absenteeism;
? Safety concerns;
? Bad behaviour or poor discipline;
? Adverse effects on company image and customer relations
So what can you do?
A lack of a workplace alcohol policy, combined with the absence of serious
alcohol prevention programs could be adding to your problem.
Having a model workplace alcohol policy could reduce the cost that your business is
suffering as a result of this.
