Drug Abuse In the Workforce

Drug abuse in the workforce is a growing challenge for American business with losses in the millions based on poor work history, days missed and accidents on the job. While economists have paid more attention to the opioid epidemic’s role in keeping people out of work, about two-thirds of those who report misusing pain relievers are on the payroll. Some in California and Colorado are smoking pot on breaks and coming into the office high as a kite my friends! 

In today's factory or office or moving industry or hospitality industry, such employees can be a drag on productivity, one of the U.S. economy’s sore spots as people come to the work place high on medications. In the worst case, they can endanger themselves and their colleagues. Driving a 14 ton moving van high on pain pills is not a pretty picture my friends!

That’s why I believe in practicing zero-tolerance for drug users. One randomly chosen employee gets tested every month, and we’re gonna move it to two. These costs mount do up as I had to hire a third-party company to select the worker, and pay the clinic to conduct tests starting with job foreman!

Money can be wasted training workers who subsequently drop out when they fail the screening. 30 days into their new job, Then there are the added care costs. Some estimates that opioid abusers cost employers nearly twice as much in health-care expenses as their clean co-workers -- an extra $8,600 a year.

Can’t Do It

It’s no wonder that not every boss is as rigorous as I know people who’ve said, ‘I can’t do it, I would lose too many workers like employers in movers industry/ lawn services construction and hospitality workers are at the bottom of the barrel for employers to choose from in this ever growing economy.

In Florida and at this moment, 57 percent of employers say they perform drug tests, according to the National Safety Council. Out of those, more than 40 percent don’t screen for synthetic opioids like oxycodone, rockizes and meth among the most widely abused narcotics, and one of the substances that new federal rules are targeting.

Starting next month, many federal government employees who take drug tests will have to submit to a more extensive screening (hair scalp testing) one response to a spiraling crisis. Opioids killed about 33,000 Americans in 2015, more than any other year on record. Private companies aren’t obliged to follow Washington’s lead, but in such areas they often do. It's an epic force in todays workforce that is completely spinning out of control problem my friends.