Alcohol harm costing workplaces €8.5 billion in lost productivity
Kenneth Fox
Alcohol abuse is costing Irish workplaces €8.5 billion a year in lost productivity, according to Alcohol Action Ireland (AAI).
The AAI, the national independent advocate to reduce alcohol harm, published its latest report on the impact that alcohol has on the Irish economy and is urging the government to implement policies that will reduce this heavy burden.
Alcohol’s impact on public health and the health service, on crime and the criminal justice system, and on road traffic collisions is well documented.
However, another area which is directly and indirectly affected by alcohol is the workplace.
AAI’s latest report, titled Alcohol’s Cost to the Workplace, uses national and international evidence to shine a light on the impact of alcohol in the workplace in Ireland, the scale of its impact on workers, on employers, and on the economy.
The report found employers and businesses can sometimes be a major contributor themselves to alcohol use amongst workforces.
However, there is a role for employers and the trade union movement to reduce this by ensuring positive work conditions including fair treatment, recognition, meaningful work, skill variety, autonomy, acquisition and use of skills, fair rewards, promotion opportunities, friendship formation, and social support from co-workers and supervisors.
Heavy drinking increases the risk of absenteeism, with high-risk drinkers 22 times more likely to be absent from work due to their alcohol use compared with lower-risk drinkers.
Presenteeism – which is defined as being physically present at work but, due to a physical or emotional issue, being distracted to the point of reduced productivity – is more important for lost productivity than is absenteeism, with presenteeism accounting for 77 per cent of total lost productivity in the workplace, while absenteeism is responsible for 23 per cent.
It is estimated that heavy drinking increases the risk of unemployment by as much as about five-fold compared with light drinking.
Speaking about the report, AAI chief executive Dr Sheila Gilheany said: “Alcohol is by far the most used psychoactive substance in the workforce, with people having harmful consumption patterns that increase their risk of social, legal, medical, occupational, domestic and economic problems.
More than half of Irish drinkers are classified as hazardous drinkers. Within that cohort of hazardous drinkers, there are 578,000 people with an alcohol use disorder (AUD), of which 90,000 are at a severe level.
“Alcohol poses a significant risk to workers, to businesses, to productivity and to the economy.
"Workers under the influence of alcohol can be a danger to themselves and to others, especially in jobs which involve a high risk of injury.
"Working under the influence of alcohol, or with a hangover, can increase the risk of accidents, injuries and absenteeism, along with tardiness at work and/or leaving work early, resulting in loss of productivity. It can also lead to the development of inappropriate behaviour at work, poor relations with colleagues, and low company morale.
“The impact of alcohol on the workplace is multifaceted. It affects the individual in terms of mortality and morbidity, productivity, presenteeism, and absenteeism. It affects colleagues in terms of workload, and it affects employers in terms of businesses losses and competitiveness.
Dr Gilheany said that alcohol harm is estimated to cost the Irish exchequer about 2.5 per cent of GDP every year – that is €14 billion for 2024 – in health, justice and lost productivity.
Of this, the lion’s share – 61 per cent or about €8.5 billion – is due to lost productivity. She said given alcohol’s huge drain on the Irish economy, much more could be done by government to address these issues.