Employers
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As employers or supervisors you want your associates or employees to perform at their highest potential. When they do so, their performance not only reflects well on you but on your company as a whole. This means investments will be made by way of training, periodic job proficiency assessments, and rewards or benefits for a job well done.
Having invested so much in an employee employers should expect employees to perform well and take an active part in the work community. When an employee doesn’t perform at a level they typically would or at a level their supervisor expects, the reasons could be anything from a bad nights rest to serious family issues. However sometimes this inability to meet requirements is a result of drug abuse. As an employer you have to determine if the factors or symptoms of drug abuse are present and clearly point to a drug abuse problem.
According to the Ohio Department of Health, “Drug overdoses are associated with high direct and indirect costs. Unintentional fatal drug overdoses cost Ohioans $2.0 billion in 2012 in medical and work loss costs; while non-fatal, hospital-admitted drug poisonings cost an additional $39.1 million. The total cost equaled an average of $5.4 million each day in medical and work loss costs in Ohio.”
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Logan County Selected for Drug-Free Workplace Initiative |
As an employer or supervisor you can help to curb these work loss costs associated with drug abuse by knowing the signs and getting involved. Accidents caused by impaired drivers cost money, as well as production loss when an addicted employee doesn’t make it to work. Costs such as these add up and if not addressed by those who can recognize the signs and act, cost the public a lot of money.
Economy Needs Workers, but Drug Tests Take a Toll
Drug Deaths in America Are Rising Faster Than Ever, By JOSH KATZ, nytimes.com, JUNE 5, 2017
