MorningStar Compliance

06/04/2022

EFFECTS OF SUBSTANCE ABUSE IN THE WORKPLACE

www.MornstarCompliance.com

INCREASED COSTS

Every business owner focuses on the bottom line, so let’s start with the costs of substance abuse. Substance abusers cost employers an average of $13,000 a year (source). In total, this costs the American economy $81 billion annually, as approximately 70% of the 14.8 million Americans who abuse illegal drugs are employed. This loss of revenue results from decreased productivity (which we will discuss in more detail below) as well as workers’ compensation claims, health care costs, legal liabilities, and theft. Employees who abuse drugs or alcohol are three to five times more likely to file workers’ compensation claims. Plus, employee substance abuse can increase your healthcare costs by 300%!

LOSS OF PRODUCTIVITY

It should come as no surprise that substance abuse reduces productivity in the workplace. After all, drug and alcohol use often cause poor concentration, a lack of focus, carelessness, and errors in judgment. Substance abuse can lower your business’s productivity by one-third and cause 2.5 times more absenteeism. Plus, workers who abuse alcohol are 2.7 times more likely than other workers to have injury-related absences.

Employees who abuse alcohol or drugs during or before work are more likely to sleep on the job, lack attention, and struggle to concentrate. They may be preoccupied with obtaining and using substances while at work, and they are also more likely to suffer lost-time injuries (i.e., an injury or accident that leads to the loss of productive work time).

Additionally, employees who abuse drugs or alcohol tend to hop between jobs. This high turnover rate is bad news for employers, who will waste time interviewing, hiring, and training new employees.

LOWER MORALE

Drugs and alcohol can dramatically change a person’s behavior, and these negative changes in personality may lower your workplace morale. For example, the abuser may be tardy, lethargic, defensive, or quick-tempered. They may suffer from stress due to financial problems, complain about issues at home, or blame their coworkers for their own mistakes and shortcomings. Sometimes abusers will neglect their personal hygiene and appearance, and they may exhibit symptoms of a hangover or withdrawal.

Just as one bad apple can spoil the whole bunch, one employee can alter the morale of the entire workplace. Coworkers may resent the substance abuser’s lack of productivity, especially if this person is often late or absent, resulting in the coworkers suffering stress and frustration as they try to cover the neglected duties.

MORE INJURIES, ACCIDENTS, AND FATALITIES

Due to impaired judgment, a lack of concentration, and a variety of other side effects, substance abusers are more likely to cause injuries, accidents, and even fatalities in the workplace. In fact, one-fifth of workers and managers have reported that a coworker’s on-the-job or off-the-job drinking hurt their productivity and/or jeopardized their safety. Substance abuse is the third leading cause of workplace violence, and drug-using employees are 3.6 times more likely to be involved in workplace accidents. Especially in industries that involve dangerous equipment, locations, or duties, substance abuse can be deadly.

05/30/2022

Thank you to all those we have lost protecting our freedom. "In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends."

– Martin Luther King, Jr.

05/23/2022

Full program management
Whether you have one driver or 10,000, MorningStar Compliance will customize a program for you that basically runs itself. We’ll ensure you have everything you need to get compliant – and stay compliant.
* DOT-compliant written policy
* Nationwide network of collection sites
* Online program management
* Medical Review Officer services
* Free audit support
* 24/7 emergency testing support
* Electronic Chain of Custody management�
All of your testing needs are just one click away
* Pre-Employment Drug Tests
* Random Drug & Alcohol Tests
* Post Accident Drug & Alcohol Tests
* Return to Duty/Follow-Up Tests
* Reasonable Suspicion Tests

Contact us Today and see what MorningStar Compliance can do for you.

MorningStar Compliance can meet your occupational testing services needs. Numerous testing options and consistently great service are the primary focus at MorningStar Compliance.

05/20/2022

What might be considered reasonable suspicion for drug testing?

Employers with a comprehensive drug testing policy as part of their drug-free workplace program often include reasonable suspicion testing, also known as for-cause or probable-cause testing. Reasonable suspicion testing must be based on individualized suspicion of a particular employee, and employers need to document objective facts that would suggest to a reasonable person that the individual is under the influence in violation of company policy. Supervisors, managers and HR professionals should be trained in recognizing the signs of substance misuse in the workplace.
When an employee is suspected of being under the influence, firsthand observation should be made immediately by more than one supervisor or manager. Some examples of the signs an employer may observe are described below.

Physical signs
* Bloodshot eyes/dilated pupils.
* Slurred speech.
* Unsteady walk/uncoordinated movements.
* Shakes or tremors.
* Unexplained sweating or shivering.
* Fidgeting/inability to sit still.
* Sleeping at work or difficulty staying awake.
* Unusual body or breath odor.
* Deterioration in appearance/grooming.
Behavioral signs
* Attendance problems—tardiness, pattern of absences or excessive absenteeism.
* Decline in performance/productivity.
* Acting withdrawn from others, secretive.
* Money problems or borrowing or stealing money.
Psychological signs
* Unexplained changes in personality or attitude.
* Sudden mood changes, irritability, angry outbursts or inappropriate laughing.
* Unexplained fear or paranoia.
* Inability to focus or concentrate.
When two or more members of management make observations significant enough to warrant reasonable-suspicion drug testing, this should be documented and explained to the employee being sent for testing.

MorningStar Compliance can help your company with the creation of a policy and the ex*****on of testing to ensure federal, state and company guidelines and laws are followed. Contact us today to see how we can help you.

05/18/2022

Workplace Drug Testing.

There are 6 reasons employers should drug test employees:
1. Pre-employment: testing used as a preventative method to avoid hiring individuals who abuse drugs or alcohol. This testing is common in the application process.
2. Accident: testing required by the Department of Transportation and adopted by other companies and organizations in their own policies that tests for drug and alcohol use after an accident has occurred.
3. Random drug testing: allows for an employer to select, using a random process, one or more employees to undergo testing.
4. Reasonable suspicion: testing where an employer has reason to believe, through observation, that an employee’s appearance, behavior and/or conduct indicate the possible use of alcohol or drugs. A supervisor can be trained to recognize signs and symptoms of the drug and alcohol use by attending a MorningStar Compliance hosted training session.
5. Return to duty: testing, required by the DOT, for any employee who has previously tested positive or has previously refused to test.
6. Follow-up: testing that occurs after an employee, who has been in rehabilitation for drugs or alcohol, has returned to work. This testing is to prevent employees from relapsing (which is typical in the first year of recovery).

But there are 6 REAL reasons you should be testing…
1. To help the community: By addressing the drug abuse problem effectively, employers “do their part” in encouraging a safe and healthy community whether that be for bus drivers driving kids to school or for construction workers building the newest attraction.
2. To maintain productivity: Employees who are using drugs are 1/3rd less productive than those who aren’t! At a time of increasing competitiveness in the business world, employers cannot afford to lose productivity due to abuse or misuse of drugs or alcohol.
3. To protect employees and customers: Employees using drugs present a danger to themselves, their co-workers and the general public. Drug testing allows for workplace standards to be a safe and healthy workplace.
4. To contain health care costs: Drug users are not only more likely to injure others on the job, they also incur four times the medical expenses of the average employee. Some state workers’ compensation laws deny overage if the injury resulted from the use of illicit drugs or alcohol.
5. To deter drug use: Implementing a drug-free workplace as a condition and standard of employment discourages employees from illegal drug use or may cause drug users to apply elsewhere.
6. To rehabilitate employees: Drug testing can uncover drug dependency problems and forces people to confront the issue. This identification and intervention can ultimately be life-saving.

05/06/2022

Benefits of Drug Testing
Here are just a few benefits for employers that implement effective drug testing programs:
Keeping Your Employees Safe
A significant number of workplace incidents involve the use of drugs or alcohol. While the Department of Transportation (DOT) has regulations that require testing of safety-sensitive employees, there are plenty of employees in non-regulated industries who could still injure their fellow coworkers. A company which proactively implements their own drug-testing program and screens their applicants prior to employment protects their work environment by significantly reducing the risk of hiring a regular drug user. Furthermore, a well-managed post-employment testing program, such as random drug testing, helps ensure that employees stay drug-free after they are hired.
Workplace safety is often the main reason for employee drug testing. Organizations that require employees to operate machinery, drive, work with customers, or conduct manual labor commonly require drug testing for the safety of everyone involved. Pre-employment and random drug testing is frequently administered to protect employees, as well as the general public, from ensuring that employees are working confidently and coherently.
Keep Your Customers Safe
The information age has brought business opportunities that could scarcely be imagined just a few decades ago. However, the same technology that has made this possible has also made it easier to produce unintended harm than ever before. A simple misclick and a sensitive email can go to the wrong customer. An unwary IT member can open a company up to a costly data breach. Now, more than ever, it is necessary to make sure every employee is fully alert and cognitive -- drug or alcohol abuse that goes under the radar is unlikely just to impact you; it’s going to affect your customers as well.
Companies often include their drug testing programs as another way to show their integrity to the public. The reputation of the organization may rely, in part, on its employees’ performance and professionalism. It is prevalent for companies to advertise that they have a comprehensive drug-testing program in place, to gain public trust and to attract consumers to their products and services.
Keeping Your Company Safe
According to Smart Business [4], employment lawsuits have risen over 400% in the past 20 years. Whether it’s for wrongful termination or a workplace incident, employee lawsuits can easily cost companies into the hundreds of thousands of dollars in liabilities. A comprehensive drug-testing program not only includes pre-employment testing to help vet for the right employees for your company, but it also consists of an effective process for reasonable suspicion testing. This means that if you have an employee who appears to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol, training and protocols can be implemented to test them and take appropriate action without opening the company up to legal vulnerabilities.
It Saves the Company Money
At first glance, drug testing may sound like just another added business expense. But in reality, an efficient drug-testing program oftentimes pays for itself many times over. Pre-employment drug testing improves employee retention rates. Drug-free employees are healthier and less likely to miss work unexpectedly. A drug-free workplace is a more productive workplace, and a more productive workplace is a more lucrative business. Several states also offer additional incentives for companies that implement drug testing programs, such as a reduction of their Workers’ Compensation insurance premiums, the ability to use a positive drug test to defeat or reduce Workers’ Compensation claim payouts, or to deny unemployment claims.
The Problem
With the growing popularity of ma*****na use, the nation’s opioid crisis combined with the history of illicit drug use in our country, if ever there was a time to have a comprehensive drug-testing program, that time is now. If you don’t already have a drug-testing program in place, do you, your customers, and your employees a favor by getting started on one today!
Contact MorningStar Compliance Now and let us create a safer environment for your company!

05/06/2022

When do employers drug test? Employers may drug test as part of the pre-employment hiring process and also may test employees for drugs and alcohol use under certain circumstances.
1.Hiring can be contingent upon passing a Pre Employment drug tests. Drug testing laws vary by state. In some states, there are limits to when and how drug screening can be conducted.
2. In some cases, the law requires drug testing. For example, industries regulated by the U.S. Department of Transportation are covered by federal or state drug testing requirements.
3. While employers may randomly screen employees, they must be consistent in how they drug-test applicants. They cannot selectively test some applicants for a particular job while not testing others.

Contact MorningStar Compliance today for a review of your current policy.