Economic impact of alcohol misuse estimated to be up to 2.7 per cent of GDP a year. Smoking costs employers £5.3bn through increased sickness absence and smoking breaks. An estimated 1.5 million people in the UK are addicted to over-the-counter medicines.
Employees who use drugs or misuse alcohol are more likely to take time off, display poor performance and their behaviour could increase the risk of accidents, all of which can result in increased costs and risks to business, particularly if roles involve machinery or are safety critical.
Employers are crucial to promoting the health and wellbeing of their workforce and can take action to reduce sickness, absence, and improve mental wellbeing and productivity. Employers may not traditionally see alcohol, drug or tobacco use as part of their responsibility but there is a huge cost to business, the economy and individual workers.
Alcohol, drug and tobacco use may not be at the top of employers’ health concerns, but are the causes of, and contributors to, short and long term ill-health for a considerable proportion of people of working age. For example, in England, there were an estimated 301,000 potential years of life lost due to alcohol in 2015[1] and the economic impact is also estimated to be up to £7.3bn a year.[2]
Smoking costs employers £5.3bn[3] through increased sickness absence and smoking breaks, and two thirds of smokers say they want to stop, but many fail without adequate support. An estimated 8.5% of 16 to 59 year olds took a drug in the last year and an estimated 1.5 million people in the UK are addicted to prescription and over-the-counter medicines.[4]
