U.S. Alcohol Usage Is Down. How Might Employers Support the Trend?

A recent Gallup survey found Americans, in general:

• Are indulging in alcoholic beverages (liquor, wine or beer) less often;
• Have fewer of these beverages when they do drink; and,
• Consider drinking to be bad for their health.

The trend lines are interesting and, in some cases, historic.

Specifically, the percentage of U.S. adults who say they consume alcohol (54%) is the lowest number in nearly 90 years. Also, Americans’ belief that even moderate drinking is bad for health rose to a new high of 53%.

For employers, the survey results could translate into a decrease in alcohol-related medical conditions, thus representing an opportunity for total rewards professionals to provide increased support for employees through programs that seek to treat alcohol problems and encourage reduced consumption and related risky behaviors.

Employer Implications and Opportunities

While alcohol is not identical to smoking due to regulatory considerations, employers may consider deploying a similar tact with alcohol as they have for years with smoking — in the form of cessation programs, incentives for non-users, etc.

According to the Mayo Clinic, alcohol use can result in liver disease, digestive problems (including inflammation of the stomach and pancreas) and ulcers in the esophagus, heart problems (including high blood pressure, heart failure, stroke and arrhythmia), and diabetes complications.

From an employer’s financial perspective, lower alcohol consumption among workers and their dependents could reduce group health insurance costs and drive a more productive workforce — while avoiding potential alcohol-related outcomes such as increased absenteeism, disability and workers’ compensation costs/claims.

Barbara Zabawa, an attorney and president at Wellness Law LLC, said the overall trend as surfaced in the Gallup data undoubtedly has employer implications, since most of those polled are workers.

“If alcohol use declines among workers, it naturally can free up resources to address more social determinants of health — such as financial or domestic worries — that contribute to lower employee well-being,” she said.

Zabawa cautioned, however, that trying to treat alcohol use similar to tobacco use when it comes to employee wellness programs that incentivize abstinence could be legally risky, as alcoholism is considered a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Pamela Garber, a therapist in private practice with extensive experience counseling working professionals — some of whom deal with alcohol-related issues, including abuse and dependency — said emerging efforts such as “Dry January” can boost and maintain momentum in an employer’s alcohol awareness, reduction and/or cessation efforts.

“In terms of a continued decrease in overall alcohol consumption, I see an individual’s emotional well-being and social support to be key determining factors in decrease or abstinence,” she said.

Garber added that creating non-alcohol-oriented corporate events (e.g., lunch get-togethers or coffee/bakery meetings) rather than off-site happy hours at bars and restaurants may aid corporate well-being support efforts, and underscore corporate culture and workplace expectations.

“Even with data, alcohol treatment can complicate employee relations by the documentation showing that a company was aware of an employee’s issue before the employee had a problematic experience at work,” she explained. “It seems more practical now for a company to make the topic and encouragement of no or less drinking available and more common — as in ‘everyday talk.’”

Bolster Your ‘Quiver of Arrows’

Siddharth Doshi, the general manager of Substance Use Disorders Treatment at San Francisco-based Carrum Health, said the health services firm sees hope in the general trend of increased awareness and reduced consumption.

“That said, alcohol abuse has been prevalent for decades; the number of people that continue to need quality support and treatment is extremely high and, frankly, growing,” he noted.

Coupled with the availability of high-quality treatment options now available, Doshi explained increased awareness will likely help reduce barriers to care — meaning there is more opportunity than ever to help address alcohol and substance use issues in the workforce as “trickle-down” momentum takes effect.

According to Doshi, employers are generally becoming more aware of:

• Alcohol and general substance use within their workforces;
• The lack of high-quality, ethical treatment options (high costs when out of network); and,
• Metric impacts, such as ensuing downstream medical costs, productivity loss, morale and more.

“Forward-thinking employers are already including specific substance use benefits in their quiver of arrows, offering rapid access to high-quality, ethical treatment with transparency in costs and outcome measurement,” he said.

Doshi said progressive employers are increasingly including value-based, care-focused substance use benefits and creating a supportive environment to encourage seeking treatment for substance use. To enable this, these employers are focused on effective communication and equipping HR and frontline managers with ways to direct employees to care.

“For employers who do offer substance use treatment benefits, it’s all about driving communications in multiple channels, making the right support easy to find and trying to ensure integration within their benefit ecosystem,” he said.

According to Wellness Law’s Zabawa, alcohol education and employee assistance programs (EAPs) can be effective mechanisms.

“There is a great opportunity, particularly with making EAP more holistic, to get at the root cause of the alcohol abuse,” she said. “With fewer people using alcohol, based on the Gallup data, there also is greater incentive for workers to quit using, especially if they get help in discerning why they overuse it in the first place.”

Doshi also advised employers to not cut corners.

“Solutions in this challenge require an end-to-end, coordinated, transparent and outcome-driven program,” he said. “This not only improves care experiences but also, in turn, will draw in employees who might otherwise never seek help. It’s worth it. High-quality treatment can change the paradigm of a life and have tremendous other positive impact on the workplace, families and communities.”

Editor’s Note: Additional Content

For more information and resources related to this article, see the pages below, which offer quick access to all WorldatWork content on these topics:

• Employee Benefits
• Well-Being