Workplace Substance Abuse: More Post-COVID Worries?
Some days I feel like we’ve barely scraped the surface on post-COVID fallout. It seems almost every day a client will ask about a new issue they’ve never seen before or the emergence of an unusual trendline across their demographic. Many are concerning; some just represent the next normal.
Of the more concerning is a rise in substance abuse issues. We’ve seen this rise consistently across many clients and across many industry sectors as well. Because it is so common across all sizes of clients and industries, I thought we should explore it a little more this week.
We all want our employees to be healthy and engaged, and we know that substance abuse, especially in the workplace, tends to disengage employees. Not to mention the obvious impacts on health. This next statement may be a bit obvious to many of you, but close to two-thirds of all people diagnosed with substance use disorder are working. Given the great resignation and difficulty so many companies are having filling positions, this is the last thing we want to add to the expense and effort to recruit, hire, and train new talent.
During COVID, especially during periods of work-from-home, many employees having a rough day might have a glass of wine (or two) in the middle of the afternoon. After all, it’s after lunch and the stress of living in the pandemic combined with the lack of social structure while working from home made it too easy and even inviting to have a glass of wine. In the office, you never would have considered it, but you don’t have to drive home because you’re already there!
It becomes a habit – day drinking and working, or maybe taking a toke or two for others. Now it has become a problem. We see a rise in allegations of people drinking at lunch and coming back to the office, even people caught smoking marijuana in the parking lot. Sure, those have always been issues, but the trend line sees them increasing sharply in many cases.
Being the “people person” that you are in HR, your first reaction is probably to find help for them. Give these employees a path to treatment or support. But there are some risks in expanding benefits to include things like counseling services that you should think through. A great place to start is to gain an understanding of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (or “MHPAPA”). In general, employers are not required to cover treatment for substance misuse, but if you do, be careful!
The MHPAEA became law in 2008 but had no teeth until Congress passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act in 2021. The bill has always required companies to evaluate their compliance with the MHPAEA and ensure they provide equal coverage limits for mental health/substance use disorder benefits and medical/surgical benefits. But given the CAA in 2021, the Department of Labor (DOL) has stepped up investigations and enforcement actions around the MHPAEA's parity requirements, even issuing guidance last April after the CAA passed.
Further, digital tools intended to help employees with addiction recovery may raise care quality and HIPAA privacy concerns. Most find that the rewards in offering the benefits outweigh the risk, but you certainly should understand the risk and the related compliance issues. This may even be one of those cross-functional meetings between HR, who wants to act in the best interest of the employee, and compliance, who need to protect the company.
Here are a few tips to consider as you decide about a program:
It is very important that your employees understand that you do not have visibility into what benefits they are using and that using these new benefits or services is confidential.
Privacy, treatment quality, and level of care are the most important factors to consider when you select a plan once you decide to move in that direction.
Leaders need to lead the charge! To counter the stigma surrounding mental health issues, and substance misuse counseling specifically, company leadership needs to be vocal about the support available. In fact, in some companies, leaders have stepped forward with their own stories so that employees don’t feel alone with their issues. A great example of this comes from Chris Anthony, an executive at Salesforce in LA, and his inspiring story on how an executive can use their journey to sobriety to help their employees.
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MEET THE AUTHOR
J Rollins is the co-founder and CEO of ETHIX360. J is a well known leader and innovator who has served on senior leadership teams ranging in responsibility from Chief Revenue Officer, Chief Marketing Officer, SVP of Product Strategy and Chief Operating Officer.
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At ETHIX360, our goal is simple: to provide an affordable, flexible, and comprehensive answer to employee communication, policy management, corporate training and case management on issues related to corporate ethics, code of conduct, fraud, bribery, and workplace violence.
