What is an Employee Assistance Program?

by Charles Christian

Published on this site: September 18th, 2006 - See more articles from this month

Employee Assistance programs are designed to provide human resource psychological and counseling services. An EAP is an external entity employed by a company to assist their employees with mental health or stress related problems including marital problems, chemical dependency and family therapy. EAP initiatives are integrated into the workplace as part of the health, safety and training programs of the company and in conjunction with labor regulations. The main aim of an EAP is to maximize the health consciousness of employees so that they can return to work with renewed strength and capabilities.

An EAP works as a third party referral agency that connects employees with relevant organizations that can help them with their problems. These services are not limited to work related issues but instead aim to service the holistic needs of the employee in order to service the needs of the company. An EAP will assess the needs of the employee requiring assistance.

They will then refer them to a specialist to address the problem. Employee assistance programs cover the cost of between 3 and 5 sessions per year for the employee.

Employee assistance programs not only benefit the individual they have a lasting positive impact for the company. EAPs help with restoring work place morale, reducing absenteeism and increasing productivity within the organization. They are cost effective and employ only certified top quality professional affiliates. EAP services specialize in resolving workplace conflict and work related stress. The main objective of an EAP is to get the employee back on track so that they can continue to contribute to the company in a healthy and productive way.

EAPs and their specialists understand human behavior in the context of the work environment. They understand how external stressors such as relationship or family issues can affect work place cohesion. An EAP also recognizes that office culture and structure can often create internal stress. The goal of an EAP is to identify the issues and implement a course of action that will benefit both the individual and the company.

It is the responsibility of the supervisor to identify where home or work related stress is interfering with job performance and office productivity. Once this has been established the supervisor should make the employee aware of the services available. EAPs are voluntary and an employee cannot be forced into seeking help in this way. It is part of a supervisor's role to maintain productivity in the office and to ensure employees are able to develop. Companies who have encouraged employees to use EAPs have found a direct relation between assistance programs and an increase in overall performance and job satisfaction.

Charles Christian: There are many resources online that will aid your EAP search. http://www.eaplist.com list contains a current list of active EAPs. http://www.eapquotes.com Quotes is a fast and easy way to get quotes from the nations leading EAPs.