Having even one problem drinker on your health plan - including a covered family member with abuse issues â.” can cost your company big.
Some estimates place the potential cost as high as $35,000 a year per case. What’ your company’s risk?
Many wellness programs are geared toward managing employees’ health risks associated with diseases like diabetes or asthma.
But unless the health promotion program is integrated with an employee assistance program (EAP), chances are alcohol abuse-related risks go undetected. Here are two strategies that’re getting good results.
1. Include alcohol in medical screenings
If you already sponsor confidential worker health-risk assessments, it’s easy to screen for alcohol risks, too. This can be as simple as making sure three questions are added to the current appraisal -
o Precisely how often do you have a drink containing alcohol?
o How many alcoholic drinks do you have on a typical day? And
o How often in the last month have you’d six or more drinks?
For male staff members, more than 14 drinks per week, or one or more episodes of heavy drinking suggests a possible problem. for women, more than seven drinks in a week, or one or more episodes of drinking four or more drinks, is a red flag.
Alternative - When you don’t offer appraisals, you are able to refer staff members to a free, confidential online screening.
Benchmarking tools
Many specialists say drug-free worksite policies and worker assistance programs (EAPs) are the two most proven solutions within companies’ grasp for minimizing the risks and costs of alcohol abuse by health plan enrollees.
To see when sponsoring an EAP makes financial sense, you are able to calculate your own firm’s current cost risk for free here. Plug in your organization type, locale and number of personnel.
You’ll get a customized estimate of annually direct (absenteeism, disability, ER visits) and indirect (presenteeism, turnover) costs from alcohol misuse by a covered worker or family member.
To design a drug-free workplace policy â.” or check when your existing one is up to par and compliant with the law - more guidance is available here.
