The cost of addictions in the workplace is high. Substance abuse and dependence can be the cause of absenteeism, accidents, injury, death, poor work quality and costly mistakes, reduced morale, productivity loss, staff turnover, co-worker disputes, property damage and theft. “An employee with substance abuse problems can cost between 25 – 50% of their salary through low productivity, sickness and accidents.” It is estimated approximately 6% of workers suffer from additions to drug and alcohol.
Most statistics on addiction are based on alcohol or drug abuse. These statistics do not take into account the significant health problems that come from eating disorders and food addictions. It is estimated that stress and depression costs the Canadian economy more than $50 billion a year and are responsible for a significant amount of absenteeism at work.
A study in 2010 by the Center for Addictions and Health states the following:
“The average short-term physical disability leave is about 33 days, and on average employers pay $9,000 for each case. The study found the most common reasons employees take physical disability leave include respiratory illness, muscular skeletal problems, injury and digestive disorders.
Meanwhile, depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder are the mental illnesses that appear most in the Canadian workforce, with each case leading to an average 65-day leave and $18,000 bill.” As reported in the study by the Centre for Addictions and Mental Health.
It is often stress at work and at home that leads people to succumb to an addiction in the first place. Our substance of choice is used to numb out the emotions provoked by the stressful situations of life. Two major factors; unresolved emotional conditioning carried from childhood and reactions to the stressful situations play off each other in a dynamic process to provoke emotional reactions.
With a backlog of unresolved emotional baggage from childhood, employees are not able to withstand pressures in the work place, such as:
- shift work and long work hours
- poor job design, including boring or extremely demanding work
- unrealistic deadlines and performance targets, or inadequate resources
- lack of opportunity to participate in decision making
- inadequate training and supervisory support
- bullying, harassment or victimisation at work
- fear of job loss and uncertainty about the future
- Family and social problems. Link to article on problems with addictions at home.
Part of the solution is to support employees in letting go of their “emotional baggage”. When we do this we are addressing the cause of the problem, rather than the symptom which is addiction.
