Recovery Business Association
Recovery Business Association - Creating Recovery Friendly Workplaces in Wisconsin
Recovery Business Association is a program under Project WisHope which aims to create recovery responsive business organizations in regards to substance use and co-occurring mental health disorders in support of employers, employees and economies across the nation.
RBA provides training for Human Resource staff, executive teams management and employees, Employment Recovery Coaching services, organizational screenings and assessments, policy and program development and more.
The Addiction Epidemic and Employer Impact
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates the total economic burden of prescription opioid misuse in the US alone is $78.5 billion a year, including the costs of health care, lost productivity, addiction treatment, and criminal justice involvement. It has been estimated that $1.5 Billion of this cost is incurred by businesses in the form of impaired productivity and absenteeism. The CDC also estimates that 68.9% of 22.4 million illicit drug users are employed and 76.1% of 2.4 million heavy drinkers are employed.
Economic research has found a strong link between rising opioid prescriptions and declining workforce participation rates, estimating that nearly half of men age 25 to 54 who are not in the workforce take pain medication daily and a higher rate of absenteeism among opioid abusers who work.
The high level of substance misuse across the nation has shown to be a contributing factor in low workforce participation rates amongst young people and women, too. As a result, the addiction epidemic has been deemed to be not only a serious public health issue, but a serious workforce issue – one that employers must address to meet the challenges of finding and retaining quality workers.
Substance Misuse Impacts Employers in a Variety of Ways:
Increased tardiness & disciplinary actions
Increased healthcare costs
Frustrated managers and co-workers
Higher safety concerns, accidents & legal liability
Increased employee turnover
Our Services:
- Organizational Screenings & Assessments - Each workplace has its own challenges related to health and wellness. Conducting a needs assessment allows you to understand what types of substance use problems your organization is facing and discover ways to overcome them.
- Recovery Responsive Policy Development - After assessing your workplace’s needs, RBA will sit down with your team to help you identify the purpose, goals, benefits, assurances, and definitions of your workforce policy, as well as the laws and regulations your organization is subject to. Following this, RBA will assist you in developing a customized implementation strategy so you can effectively communicate your new policy to your diverse teams and then put your new policy into action.
- Employer and Employee Trainings - RBA provides a variety of trainings to ensure that each workforce department understands their roles and how to implement recovery responsive programming in a way that supports employee's health and well-being, reduces absenteeism and tardiness, enhances employee morale and creativity, and ultimately, increases your bottom line.
- Recovery Employment Coaches - RBA has qualified Peer Recovery Employment Coaches on-hand to engage directly with employers and employees. Peer Employment Coaches are proven to provide vocational mentorship pre-and-post employment by offering supportive services to instill hope, enhance self-esteem and life skills while promoting wellness for work.
RBA’s Membership Program
Recovery Business Association’s Membership Program unites and supports small and large business entities, corporations, nonprofit organizations, and business professionals across the nation. By becoming a member, you and your team will have access to ongoing training and technical assistance to help you safeguard and empower your workforce and your bottom line.
You will also have the opportunity to network with other business organizations and their executive teams working to develop recovery responsive programming, train their workforce on addiction-related issues, and more. All business organizations and professionals are welcome to apply.
For more information or to sign up for RBA’s services, contact Shannon Egan, Business Development Manager at shannone@wishope.org or 844-752-2263.
