Affects of Abuse in the Workplace

Absenteeism, accidents, downtime, Turnover, Theft, Morale, and Productivity

Often signs of a serious drug abuser in the workplace may lead to employee theft. An employer needs to take serious action when theft within a business takes place. After investigation, proper measure must be taken to ensure the safety and well-being of the establishment as well as the safety and well-being of all employees. Following standard procedures and investigation into the matter can help ensure that the establishment can recover from such an event.

Some of these signs are absenteeism, tardiness, low productivity levels, theft, and loss of morale. In order to detect an employee that is using or abusing drugs may be the trickiest part of the entire problem. There may be signs, or perhaps a thought that maybe an employee might be under the influence, but how can an employer know for sure? There are many ways an employer can find out if their suspicions of an employee using drugs are true. Initially, an employer may want to keep an extra eye on their behavior and their job performance. If after their evaluation the employer is done, and the employer is still convinced that the employee is using drugs, they will have to take the proper steps to have the employee tested. This is called a random drug testing procedure. Every company has such a procedure put in place so that an employee’s rights are not violated in the process. Random drug testing ensures the safety and well-being of the entire business and is put into place for this very reason.

Of course, drug use, is not always the reason for an employee to miss work, or of their habit of being tardy, but, after ruling out personal problems or illness, an employer may need to face the truth that their employee might have a dependency problem. the effect that one employee has on another for their poor job performance trickles down to other employee’s that have to pick up another employee’s slack, which leads to low morale in the workplace.