PDFNJ: Drug-Free Workplace Study, 2011
The Partnership for a Drug-Free New Jersey: Drug-Free Workplace Study, 2011
by Richard Higginson
As a follow up to a study we commissioned in 2008, Fairleigh Dickinson University’s PublicMind recently completed a telephone survey of 301 randomly selected employers in New Jersey, including an oversampling of businesses with over 100 employees. The survey was conducted in December 2011 with a Human Resources Manager/Director/VP knowledgeable about the firm’s HR decisions. The survey asked about a variety of topics related to employer’s drug testing regimes and policies.
Company Health Concerns – Most companies (85%), across all sizes, said they are “very concerned” with worker safety, virtually unchanged from the 82% in our 2008 study. Of the remaining choices offered, concerns about illegal drug abuse (66%), alcohol abuse (59%), and OTC drug abuse (53%) followed. Trailing the listed concerns by a wide margin are concerns about the physical fitness and diet of workers (25%).
Most companies (70%) across all size categories believe alcohol abuse is a “very serious” or “somewhat serious” problem for most New Jersey companies. Similarly, most believe New Jersey companies face serious problems with both illicit drug abuse (65%) and OTC drug abuse (65%). However, mirroring what was found in the 2008 study, these individuals are reluctant to believe these issues exist at their own company, as only 22% say alcohol abuse is a “very serious” or “somewhat serious” problem among their employees. Even fewer say illegal drug abuse, or OTC drug abuse is a “very serious” or “somewhat serious” problem among their employees (17% & 16%, respectively).
Despite their concerns about drug and alcohol abuse, most (60%) say they are “not very” knowledgeable of the impact the new medical marijuana law known as the "New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act" that went into effect in January 2010 will have on their workplace. The study finds that an equal number of companies “support” the new laws (38%) as are “not sure” (38%). Fewer (22%) oppose it. No differences are found by company size.
Workplace Policy- Most (78%) New Jersey companies have a written drug-free policy in place. There is a linear relationship between company size and the likelihood of having such a policy. While only 66% of companies with 10-29 employees have a written policy, 77% of those with 30-149 employees, and 99% of those with 150 or more employees have a written policy in place. As in 2008, employers continue to adopt these policies to reduce accidents (36%) or when required by law (31%).
Showing a distinct “hands-off” policy away from the office, most say their written drug-free policies focus on abuses while on company time. Most (91%) say their policies cover alcohol abuse on the job. The same number (91%) says their policy covers illegal drug abuse on the job. Both figures are similar to the 2008 results. While only 79% say their policy covers OTC and prescription drug abuse on the job, this is significantly higher than the 59% reported in previous study. Far fewer say their policies cover abuses off the job. Only 44% say their drug-free policy covers illegal drug abuse off the job, while only 3 in 10 cover either OTC drug abuse off the job (31%) or alcohol abuse off the job (29%).
Half (50%) say it took less than 3 months to initiate their drug-free policy once they decided to implement one.
Just over half (57%) say they review and update their policy every year. Another 14% do so every other year. HR reps (87%), supervisors (67%) and legal counsel (62%) are most often involved in updating the policy. Larger companies (71%) are more likely than the others to have legal and/or supervisors review their policies.
About half (49%) of all companies, including 68% of the large companies, offer an Employee Assistance Program (EAP). A similar percent (49%) offer written materials to employees as offer manager training programs (47%).
Companies believe these programs have a positive impact on their employees and on their business. Nearly 8 in 10 (79%) say their programs have been “very effective” or “somewhat effective” in reducing employee accidents. About 3 in 4 (73%) say they have been effective in increasing worker productivity. And 7 in 10 believe it has been effective in reducing workers compensation claims (71%) and reducing absenteeism (69%). “At a time when many New Jersey businesses are feeling the effects of the slow economy, this study finds drug-free workplace policies work,” according to Angelo Valente, Executive Director of PDFNJ, “they make the work place safer, more efficient, and more successful.”
While concerns about having sufficient staff to manage these programs, and to a lesser extent, cost, play a role in not offering substance abuse counseling, educational programs, or manager training programs, the most commonly cited reason is simply the belief that the issue is “not a problem” at their company. These are all consistent with the 2008 results. “It is somewhat shortsighted that while most recognize drug and alcohol abuse is a serious issue among NJ companies, some still choose to believe it can’t or won’t happen at their company”, added Valente.
Unfortunately, those companies without such programs appear unlikely to implement programs in the near term. Only 20% are “very interested” or “somewhat interested” in developing parent training in the upcoming year, 27% say they are interested in developing an employee assistance program (EAP), 30% are interested in developing a substance abuse prevention workshop, and only 39% are interested in developing manager or supervisor training in the upcoming 12 months. In fact, simply creating written educational materials was of interest to less than half (47%) of those companies not currently offering them.
Employee Drug and Alcohol Testing- Half (53%) of companies conduct some pre-employment drug and alcohol screening. One in 3 (34%) test for all positions of employment, while 1 in 5 (19%) only test for selected positions. Large companies (76%) are more likely than either small (36%) or medium (53%) sized companies to conduct any pre-employment testing.
Less than half (42%) test existing employees, unchanged from 2008. Of the employers who do test, most test when a supervisor suspects an employee of being under the influence of drugs or alcohol (78%) or after a job-related accident (79%). This latter figure is significantly higher than 2008 (58%). Employers are more likely than in previous years to take action if an employee fails a drug or alcohol test. Today, most companies issue a written or verbal reprimand (58%) or refer the employee to EAP counseling (57%). Both of these figures are significantly higher than in 2008 (10% and 20%, respectively). An equal number say they would suspend the employee (51%), or immediately dismiss or fire them (50%). Again, these figures are higher than in the previous study.
Coming back to a common theme in this year’s study, most companies (69%) that do not test existing employees explain their reluctance by saying that drug and alcohol abuse is not a problem among their employees. This is more than double the number citing the next two reasons, cost (30%) or having insufficient staff (26%). These results are consistent with why companies do not conduct pre-employment testing, and are consistent with the 2008 findings.
“This study helps us to understand the level of concern among New Jersey companies about employee substance abuse issues and the steps they need to take to prevent employee substance abuse and its dangerous and negative impact”, explained Valente.
PDFNJ currently provides a program Drugs Don't Work in NJ! to assist small and mid-sized business owners establish drug-free workplace policies. Currently 2,684 businesses, representing 910,216 employees utilize PDFNJ’s workplace services.
The sampling error for 301 employers in New Jersey, given the population of employers in the state is approximately +/- 5 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. Information on the Drugs Don’t Work in New Jersey program and the full survey can be found on the Partnership for a Drug-Free New Jersey website, www.drugfreenj.org.
Rich Higginson is the Director of Market Research at Fairleigh Dickinson University's PublicMind. He has 25+ years of experience in business-to-business research, business-to-consumer research, and marketing. Rich received his masters from Hofstra University in Applied Research and Evaluation.