The New Temperance Movement: Workplace Junkies Never Had It So Bad

Abstract

In general, the way organization treat employees improved dramatically over the past thirty years; a trend that is likely to continue. Altruism is probably not an imperative for this increased concern for employees' welfare, instead, the combined effects of social, political, and economic considerations probably account for the improvements in employee relations. In contrast, workers who use alcohol or drugs are at greater risk today of losing their jobs than they were ten years ago. This is due in part to job-related issues; however, the effect of emotions, bound up in what seems to be a new temperance move­ ment in America, must be considered as a plausible explanation. The way organizations treat their employees has been of considerable interest to scholars and management practitioners over the past thirty years. During that time, treatment of the individual worker improved significantly and today, concepts like fair play, due process, and just cause are part of the employee relations orthodoxy. During the past ten years, however, while job protection and regard for the individual worker became a mainstay of employee relations, job security for workers who use alcohol or drugs decreased. The treatment of workers who use alcohol or drugs can best be examined within a framework of cycles of tolerance and intolerance. America is currently experiencing a cycle of intolerance toward alcohol and drugs, and workers who use intoxicants are at risk in what appears to be a neotemperance movement. The purpose of this article is to examine this latest round of intolerance and its probable effects on American workers. 1 Throughout this article, drugs are defined as illicit drugs like cocaine, heroin, and marijuana.