Organisations should have formal drink-drug policies

A report by the CIPD suggests that nearly half of UK organisations do not have a formal policy to tackle the problem of drug and alcohol abuse at work. Alcohol abuse is a growing problem, particularly among women, and is estimated to cost UK businesses around £2.3b in terms of sickness absence and costs to the NHS.

Most organisations that do have policies in place have introduced them as a reaction to absence and other disciplinary offences. In addition, the majority of employers tackle the problem with disciplinary action, even though they consider it to be the least effective approach.

Diane Sinclair, CIPD Adviser, Employee Relations says, "All switched-on organisations should be taking steps to manage the costly problem of drug and alcohol abuse, making clear to employees where they stand. Formal and thought-out policies need to be much more widespread.

"It is vital that organisations act before they are affected by problems with attendance and low productivity, by doing so, they avoid making knee jerk reactions and hold onto valued staff".
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