ALCOHOL IN WORKPLACES

Drinking in the workplace

The only New Zealand survey which specifically asks about workplace drinking is the 2008/09 NZ Alcohol and Drug Use Survey. In this national survey, 25.4% of past-year drinkers aged 16–64 had consumed alcohol in workplaces or meetings.

The 2012/13 NZ Health Survey asks about location of drinking, but combines the workplace with university, polytechnic and school settings.

Working under the influence of alcohol

The 2012/13 NZ Health Survey asked NZ drinkers if they had worked while under the influence of alcohol in the last 12 months. They found that:

• 6.8% responded 'yes' - This equates to about 165,000 drinkers (8.8% males, 4.6% females)

Thirteen percent of Pacific and 12% of Māori drinkers who had worked in the past year reported working at least once when under the influence of alcohol compared with 6.5% of European/Other and 4.7 % of Asian drinkers in the past year.

Operating machinery under the influence of alcohol

The 2012/13 NZ Health Survey also found that 3.3% of drinkers who had operated machinery did so at least once while under the influence of alcohol in the past year. This equates to around 65,000 drinkers.

Read about the range of alcohol harms that impact on the workplace

IMPACT OF DRINKING ON THE WORKPLACE

Alcohol consumption has serious implications for both employers and employees in workplaces. This can range from death and injury as a result of impairment, to absenteeism, lost productivity and general low workforce morale.

• Every year, 147,500 adults take one or more days off work or school due to their alcohol use.
• A total of 84,400 adults have experienced harmful effects on their work, study or employment because of alcohol.
• In 2012, 6% of adolescent drinkers report having their work or school affected in the last year due to alcohol. Among those students living in the most deprived areas, 8% report problems with work or school (exacerbating existing inequities in outcomes).

Loss of labour output to New Zealand Society

In 2016, the estimated annual average cost of lost productivity (due to alcohol) per employee was NZ$1097.71 (NZ$209.62 absenteeism, NZ$888.09 presenteeism) and NZ$134.62 per employer. At a population level this equates to approximately NZ$1.65 billion per year.

Loss productivity to employers

The NZ Health Survey 2012/13 found that male drinkers (4%) were 1.6 times more likely to be absent from work or study than female drinkers (2.5%) and that male drinkers (6.9%) were 1.4 times more likely to experience financial harms from their drinking than female drinkers (4.7%). 

The negative effect of alcohol use on financial position was most frequently reported by youth (15–24 years) and younger (25–34 years) drinkers.

Fourteen percent of Māori and 9.1% of Pacific drinkers compared with 5.2% of European/Others and 3.9% of Asian drinkers reported a harmful effect to their financial position as a result of their drinking.

In New Zealand, employers have legal obligations under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 to ensure that workers and others are given the highest level of protection from workplace health and safety risks, so far as is reasonably practicable. This includes risks to both physical and mental health.

Employers can support employees by providing the following programmes:

• Support them to seek brief intervention;
• Adopt workplace health and lifestyle checks;
• Support psychosocial skills training;
• Peer referral for problem drinking.

The Act also has responsibilities from employees to eliminate, isolate and minimise all significant hazards. Under the Act, a hazard includes behaviour that can cause harm to others. This could mean behaviours which occur under the influence of alcohol use.