Resumen de The cost to employers of employee alcohol abuse: a review of the literature in the United States of America

Henrick J. Harwood, M.B. Reichman

• It is widely recognized that alcohol and drug abuse by workers can adversely affect their performance and the productivity of the workplace. The specific ways in which substance abuse can be harmful are well understood. Major elements of the costs incurred (for example, in lost productivity and earnings of workers and in deaths at the workplace) are captured in the most recent cost studies, as well as in the international guidelines for estimating the economic costs of substance abuse. However, no studies have rigorously measured the full economic burden on the workplace alone, because of the theoretical and empirical difficulties arising from the spread of the impact of substance abuse, via the markets, among employers (through lost profits), workers (through lost earnings and benefits) and consumers (through higher prices for goods and services). Both employers and workers recognize the nature of the problem and have worked together through bodies such as the International Labour Organization to find common solutions and formulate multilateral policies. Data for the United States of America show that policies are frequently established at the workplace to reduce alcohol and drug abuse by workers.