|
Below, you'll find extensive information on leading
maps costa rica articles and products to help you on your way
to success.
Is Drug Screening Too Costly To Do Or Do Without? One Company
By Laura Betterly, Wed Dec 7th
The director of telemarketing operations at a financial servicescompany looks out across his 3600 square foot call center on atypical Monday morning. "Look at all those empty chairs", helaments. "It is sickly Monday and my partiers are taking theirusual unscheduled day long break". The problem of the "three dayweekend" or absenteeism in general doesn't just affect themanager in this setting. What about the other 80% of the workforce who showed up? They are now burdened with additionalduties while filling the vacancies that have temporarilydeveloped. With the challenge of recruiting qualified workers becoming moredifficult all over the nation, the last thing Americanbusinesses can afford is to have major portions of its existingwork force abusing drugs - on or off the job. The truth is thatmost employees do not engage in illicit drug use and most do notwant to work side-by-side with drug abusers. A majority
All Headline News - Breaking News
The latest top breaking news, U.S., world, business, politics, entertainment, celebrities, sports, technology, and
more.
Bush To Extend Unemployment Benefits In All States (AHN)
(AHN) - President George W. Bush is expected to sign into law this week a bill extending unemployment benefits, reversing his previous opposition. The Senate passed the bill on Thursday, the same day the Labor department said jobless claims rose to a 16-year high. - Fri, 21 Nov 2008 08:13:41 GMT
Dipping Prices To Be A Major Headache For Next Administration (AHN)
(AHN) - With the crash of the stock and financial markets, consumers cut spending. By September, prices began to soften. Today, the next major threat to the incoming administration is no longer inflation, but its opposite - deflation. - Fri, 21 Nov 2008 08:11:55 GMT
Employment Website Names 25 Jobs In High Demand (AHN)
(AHN) - Even if unemployment rate in the U.S. reached a 14-year high of 6.5 percent, there are still vacancies waiting to be filled. The top 25 jobs in high demand were identified Thursday by Jobfox, an employment portal based on 4,000 vacancies posted the past 30 days. - Fri, 21 Nov 2008 06:43:30 GMT
Attorney General Michael Mukasey Collapses During Speech (AHN)
(AHN) - Attorney General Michael Mukasey collapsed Thursday night while addressing the Federalist Society in Washington, D.C., according to the Justice Department. - Fri, 21 Nov 2008 06:41:51 GMT
Fed Suspends Foreclosures During Holiday Season Until January 9 (AHN)
(AHN) - Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have decided to suspend foreclosures during the holiday season until January 2009, an effort to help people to stay in their homes. - Fri, 21 Nov 2008 05:39:16 GMT
News and Content For Websites
Get instant access to affordable and easy to use news, weather and other content for your website. News, Sports, Celebrity Gossip, Entertainment content and
more... delivered automatically.
Panel: China Stealing Vast Amount Of Data From U.S. Computer Networks (AHN)
(AHN) - A U.S. congressional panel has raised the alarm over the country's vulnerable computer network which has enabled China to steal vast amounts of sensitive military and commercial information via cyber espionage. - Fri, 21 Nov 2008 05:35:58 GMT
Two U.S. Army Soldiers Charged Conspiracy In Iraqi Detainee Murders (AHN)
(AHN) - The U.S. Army has ordered the court-martial for two soldiers charged with conspiracy to commit premeditated murder following the deaths of four Iraqi prisoners last year. - Thu, 20 Nov 2008 22:19:43 GMT
Convicted U.S. Army Soldier Faces Execution For Rape, Murder (AHN)
(AHN) - The U.S. Army has set a date for the execution of a former North Carolina soldier convicted of multiple rapes and murders in 1988. On December 10, Pvt. Ronald A. Gray will be the first man executed by the Army since 1961, when Pvt. John Bennett was hanged for raping and attempting to kill an 11-year-old Austrian girl. - Thu, 20 Nov 2008 21:16:02 GMT
ofemployees are parents who are concerned about the effects ofdrug abuse on their children, now and in the future. Given thisprofile of the typical American workers, it is clear thatsubstance-abuse prevention can and should be viewed as a commonconcern of both employers and employees. We interviewed one company that has recognized the true damagethat drugs in the workplace causes and why it is stillprevalent. Labwire, Inc. (http://www.labwire.com), aHouston, Texas based developer of online security solutions,began addressing what many medium and large size companies haveconsistently failed to address--the true cost effectiveness oftheir testing programs. "What stops companies from beingeffective about drug prevention in the workplace is the apparentcost to do so", states Dexter Morris, President of the company."What most companies don't understand is the wasted cost of NOTusing the latest in technology management in handling suchissues," he added. (Article continued below)
Drug use in the workplace costs this country billions of dollarsevery year in lost productivity, increased health problems andworkplace accidents, to say nothing of the problems it causes usat the federal and state level with associated family problems.Contrary to the typical portrayal of drug abusers, manyapparently functional drug and alcohol abusers manage to holddown full or part-time jobs, masking their destructive problemfrom their employers. In fact, over seventy four percent of allcurrent illegal drug and heavy alcohol * users hold down sometype of job. *(Those drinking five or more drinks per occasionon five or more days in the 30 days preceding the survey).According to the U.S. Department of Labor, more than 8 millionAmericans use some type of illegal substance. The overall cost of illicit drug abuse is estimated to have been$160.7 billion in 2000, and 69 percent of these costs are fromproductivity losses due to drug-related illnesses and deaths.Reducing substance abuse positively impacts America's economiclandscape. Medium businesses bear the greatest burden of substance abusers.Traditionally, larger employers participate in drug-freeworkplace practices. As a result, medium to large employers whodo not have drug free workplace policies in place are - inessence - adversely selected against in terms of the employeesthat are left to hire. Another thing to note is that substanceabusers will steer away from drug-free workplace companies. Theywill work for those businesses that don't have a policy or aprogram and where there is no drug testing involved. Let's faceit, no abuser wants to be detected. "The fact that medium and large size companies are at greatestrisk is why we developed our web-based employee screeningprocess. Any company can deploy this system inside of 30 days",says Morris confidently. "In fact, we can train up to 100 humanresource people on how to use our system in only 60 minutesonline". Morris went on to say that just the cost of workers compensationclaims can bury a company. Drug-using employees are 3.6 timesmore likely to be involved in workplace accidents and five timesmore likely to file a workers' compensation claim. Betweenthirty eight and fifty percent of all workers' compensationclaims are related to substance abuse per the National Councilon Compensation Insurance.. Substance abusers are three timesmore likely to use medical benefits than other employees. According to Edward Poole, president and COO of OHS Health andSafety Services Inc., in Costa Mesa, Calif., several governmentand private industry studies concluded that each drug user inthe workplace "can cost an employer an average of$11,000-$13,000 annually." Despite studies and surveys thatindicate a significant number of substance abusers hold jobs andwork while under the influence, Poole points out that manyemployers have an "it can't happen here" attitude aboutsubstance abuse in the workplace. "Once they get in there andimplement a policy and start testing employees, they're usuallyvery surprised by the results," he says. Poole tells the story of one client who operated a small, localdelivery service. When a representative from OHS Health andSafety Services visited the business owner, he stated repeatedlythat there was no reason to conduct drug testing in thatworkplace. After all, the company had only 63 employees. After acouple of years of rebuffing them, the delivery service ownercalled OHS to start up an immediate screening program.Apparently the company had a change of heart after observingunusual behavior in their workforce. OHS showed up unannouncedone day after performing roughly 45 days of drug free workplaceeducation, and did what's called a "sweep." They were going totest every employee in the workplace. Nine people immediately walked off the job. Says Poole, "One ortwo probably had deeply rooted beliefs in the right to privacyand all that crap, but it is probably safe to say that most ofthose nine employees would have tested positive." Out of the 54who took the drug test, 19 tested positive for marijuana andseveral tested positive for cocaine as well. "The employer wasshocked," says Poole, "Most employers have no clue how manyemployees are working under the influence." Once a company decides to confront its potential workplace issueregarding illicit drug use the problem of finding theappropriate security company crops up. "There are a lot ofcompanies professing to have the expertise to address drugscreening issues", Morris cautions. "Just find out what theirtrack record is and talk to some of their clients". Many companies are heading the warnings about drug abuse in theworkplace. According to data on companies that test employees,drug testing increased from twenty one and a half percent toalmost eighty five percent in one six year period - a twohundred and fifty percent increase. Recent evidence suggeststhat drug testing has now leveled off and in fact has decreasedslightly, but primarily among medium businesses. Nationalstudies indicate that sixty six percent of the country's largestfirms engage in some type of drug testing. Among Fortune 500companies, during the late 1980s and early 1990s, drug testinglikewise increased in use. For example, in 1985 about eighteenpercent of Fortune 500 companies tested their employees. Thenumber increased to a high point of forty percent by 1991. AmongFortune 1000 firms, forty eight percent of employees are subjectto drug testing. "These are good trends overall", says Morris when asked aboutthe increase in drug screening across the US. The weakness inscreening program administrations (drug testing and backgroundscreens) by medium and large size businesses is the increasingfocus of Labwire's business model. "We know what the solution isfor tens of thousands of companies, and we are it", concludesMorris. With companies like Labwire, who are building affordableapplications, coming onto the scene, maybe your call centermanager will have better attendance on future Monday mornings. Laura Betterly Press Direct International About the author:Press Direct International is a global information web siteproviding indispensable information tailored for professionalsin the financial services, media and corporate markets. Ourinformation is trusted and drives decision making across theglobe. We have a reputation for speed, accuracy and freedom frombias. For more info visithttp://www.pressdirectinternational.org | Sign In |
