White House drug control policy office releases recovery-ready workplace toolkit

Washington — The White House wants to help employers support workers who are dealing with substance misuse – as well as those in recovery. As part of the effort, the Office of National Drug Control Policy has released a toolkit.

According to ONDCP, 26.9 million Americans 18 or older who reported having a substance use disorder were employed in 2021. Of those, 78% were employed full time.

Announced Nov. 9, the Recovery-Ready Workplace Toolkit includes a workplace assessment and implementation checklist, monitoring resources, and sample training topics and employee surveys. Recovery-ready workplaces can adopt policies that fall under one of four pillars:

• Prevention and risk reduction
• Training and education
• Hiring and employment
• Treatment and recovery support

Around those pillars is a recovery-ready workplace declaration and engagement/communication tools that help employers actively engage workers and other stakeholders as allies to create and maintain policies, communicate internally and externally, and help stakeholders understand what being recovery-ready means.

The National Safety Council, which recently launched a Respond Ready Workplace program, supports the federal toolkit, saying it directly aligns with the council’s focus on overdose and naloxone awareness, access and adoption.

“NSC stands ready to continue advocating for worker health and well-being and supporting ONDCP and others in saving lives,” the council adds in a Nov. 9 statement.