Workplace Policies and Programs Concerning Alcohol and Drug Use

Workplace substance use policies and programs benefit both employers and employees. They promote the health and well-being of employees, while reducing behaviors that could negatively affect the quality of work and performance of employees.¹ Substance use can result in lost productivity, workplace accidents and injuries, employee absenteeism, low morale, and increased illness.¹ Studies also have indicated that employers vary in their responses to employees with substance use issues and that workplace-based employee assistance programs (EAPs) can be a valuable resource for obtaining help for substance-using workers.^2,3

The National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) gathers information about substance use. NSDUH defines illicit drugs as marijuana/hashish, cocaine (including crack), inhalants, hallucinogens, heroin, or prescription-type drugs used nonmedically. Heavy alcohol use is defined as drinking five or more drinks on the same occasion (i.e., at the same time or within a couple of hours of each other) on 5 or more days in the past 30 days. NSDUH respondents are also asked about three types of workplace policies and programs: (1) whether their employer has given them any educational materials regarding the use of alcohol and illicit drugs, (2) whether their workplace has a written policy about employee use of alcohol and drugs, and (3) whether they have access to any type of EAP or other type of counseling program through their workplace for employees who have alcohol- or drug-related problems.⁴

This report is one of several designed to update and expand upon information presented in Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Analytic Series A-29, Worker Substance Use and Workplace Policies and Programs, published in 2007.⁵ To enhance the statistical power and analytic capability and to ensure consistency in time frames across all of the updated reports, 5-year time periods were chosen. This issue of The NSDUH Report uses data from the combined 2008 to 2012 NSDUHs to present estimates of full-time workers aged 18 to 64 who worked for an employer who provided workplace policies and programs. Estimates are presented for all full-time workers, and comparisons are made between full-time workers who engaged in substance use and those who did not.⁶ The final section of this report presents comparisons of combined 2008 to 2012 data (hereafter "2008-2012 data") to combined 2003 to 2007 data (hereafter "2003-2007 data").

Combined 2008-2012 NSDUH data indicate that 81.4 percent of full-time workers aged 18 to 64 worked for an employer with a written policy about employee use of alcohol and drugs, and 59.5 percent had access to an EAP at work (Figure 1). An estimated 44.7 percent of full-time workers reported that their employer had given them educational materials regarding the use of alcohol and illicit drugs.

Female workers were more likely than male workers to report working for an employer who provided substance use programs and policies. Specifically, female workers were more likely to have worked for an employer with a written policy about employee use of alcohol and drugs (83.6 vs. 79.7 percent) and to report access to an EAP at work (61.7 vs. 57.8 percent) (Figure 1). However, male workers were more likely than female workers to indicate that they had received educational information from their employer (46.2 vs. 42.8 percent).

Workers in the youngest age group were generally less likely than older workers to report working for an employer who provided substance use programs and policies. Specifically, workers aged 18 to 25 were less likely to have worked for an employer with a written policy about employee use of alcohol and drugs than those aged 26 to 34 or those aged 35 to 49 (Figure 2). Compared with workers in the other age groups, those aged 18 to 25 were also less likely to have had access to an EAP at work. Across age groups, older workers were more likely than younger workers to report that their employer had given them educational information regarding substance use.

Among full-time workers aged 18 to 64 who used illicit drugs in the past month, 73.5 percent worked for an employer with a written policy about employee use of alcohol and drugs (Figure 3). Nearly one third (31.5 percent) with past month illicit drug use received educational information about alcohol and drug use from their employer, and 44.2 percent worked for an employer who maintained an EAP or other type of counseling program for employees who have an alcohol- or drug-related problem. Among workers who drank heavily in the past month, 77.8 percent worked for an employer with a written policy about employee use of alcohol and drugs. In addition, 39.2 percent of those with past month heavy drinking worked for an employer who provided educational information about alcohol and drug use, and 53.1 percent worked for an employer who maintained an EAP.

Full-time workers aged 18 to 64 who used illicit drugs in the past month were less likely to have worked for an employer who provided the three types of workplace policies and programs. Similarly, full-time workers who drank heavily in the past month were less likely to have worked for an employer who provided the three types of workplace policies and programs than those who did not drink heavily.

Comparisons between 2003-2007 and 2008-2012 NSDUH data show small but generally statistically significant increases in the percentage of employees who reported working for an employer who provided workplace policies and programs (Figure 4). The percentage of full-time workers aged 18 to 64 who worked for an employer with a written policy about employee use of alcohol and drugs increased for workers in all age groups and for both male and female workers (see Table S1). In addition, among male full-time workers aged 18 to 64, there was a significant increase in reporting the provision of educational information or presence of an EAP.

Comparisons between 2003-2007 and 2008-2012 NSDUH data also show few statistically significant changes in workplace policies and programs among workers who use substances (see Table S2). Specifically, among full-time workers aged 18 to 64 who drank heavily in the past month, there was a small but statistically significant increase in the percentage who worked for an employer with a written policy about employee use of alcohol and drugs (75.0 to 77.8 percent); similarly, a parallel small but statistically significant increase was seen among those who used illicit drugs in the past month (70.3 to 73.5 percent). No changes were seen in the provision of educational information or presence of an EAP. In contrast, among full-time workers who did not use illicit drugs in the past month, there were small but statistically significant increases in the percentage who worked for an employer who provided the three types of workplace policies and programs. Among workers who had not drunk alcohol heavily in the past month, there were also small but significant increases in the percentages of those who worked for an employer that provided these programs and policies between the two time periods.

Because substance use is a health risk for employees and can also be detrimental to employers, reducing alcohol and illicit drug use is a health goal for many employers. The findings in this report suggest that the percentage of full-time workers who worked for employers who provided substance use-related policies and programs has improved slightly. However, workers aged 18 to 25 were less likely to be aware of the EAP at their workplace than older workers, even though adults aged 18 to 25 have higher substance use rates than older adults.⁷ Given the lifetime health and economic burden from illicit drug and alcohol use,^8,9 this report illustrates the need for ongoing efforts to promote workplace-based substance use policies and programs and to monitor changes in awareness of these programs by employees over time. For more information about drug-free workplace programs, visit http://www.workplace.samhsa.gov/.

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Supporting Tables