SUBSTANCE ABUSE AT THE WORK PLACE: THE PROBLEM AND POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15270/45-4-197Abstract
Personal problems, including substance abuse, often impinge on employees’ job performanceand therefore productivity. This paper discusses substance abuse as an example of an
employee problem at the workplace that can be addressed through services such as employee
assistance programmes (EAPs). The use and abuse of substances occur for a number of
reasons, including misguided ones, such as a person trying to “forget problems” at home,
socially or at work. In relation to work, the effects are enormous, such as employee
absenteeism, workplace injuries, as well as damage to expensive workplace equipment and
property. Aspects discussed in the paper include factors that help “enable” the abuse of such
substances within the work environment, factors that indicate deteriorating employee work
performance, as well as possible ways to deal with the problem at the workplace. The paper
concludes with a discussion of possible workplace policies and programmatic solutions on
how to deal with the problem.
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