EAP

Employee Assistance Program

If you are an employer wishing to provide psychological services and mental health support for your employees, please contact us today for a no obligation, free quotation and options to suit your business needs. We offer a range of competitive packages to accommodate small, medium and large organisations.

About EAP

An EAP (employee assistance program) is an employee benefit program that assists employees with personal problems and/or work-related problems that may impact their job performance, health, mental and emotional well-being. EAPs generally offer free and confidential assessments, short-term counselling, referrals, and follow-up services for employees. EAP counsellors may also work in a consultative role with managers and supervisors to address employee and organizational challenges and needs. Many corporations, academic institution and/or government agencies are active in helping organizations prevent and cope with workplace violence, trauma, and other emergency response situations. There is a variety of support programs offered for employees. Even though EAPs are mainly aimed at work-related issues, there are a variety of programs that can assist with problems outside of the workplace. EAPs have grown in popularity over the years, and are more desirable economically and socially.

Benefits

Some studies indicate that offering EAPs may result in various benefits for employers, including lower medical costs, reduced turnover and absenteeism, and higher employee productivity. Critics of these studies question the scientific validity of their findings, noting small sample sizes, lack of experimental control groups, and lack of standardized measures as primary concerns. Proponents, however, argue that the consistency of positive findings across studies in different service sectors denote at least some positive effect of programs, even if the most effective components of such programs have not been determined. EAPs may also provide other services to employers, such as supervisory consultations, support to troubled work teams, training and education programs, and critical incident services.

Small businesses can especially benefit from EAP programs. Even though they may have fewer employees and may not see the need to implement an EAP program, small business owner’s bottom line can suffer quicker due to decreased performance and productivity and workplace negativity. A small company could be severely damaged if they do not seek effective measure to rectify such issues. An employer that provides an effective, full-service EAP can help both themselves and employees by lowering risk and liability, improving employee satisfaction, and especially decreasing the stress small business owners experience when managing numerous responsibilities with little support.

Benefits of EAP are:

  • Direct Access: Employees call the counsellors office directly.
  • Quick Response: The first counselling session occurs within a few days (or same day response), and a crisis is dealt with immediately.
  • Professional: Counsellors are typically qualified in human behaviour.
  • Confidentiality: The employer never knows who uses the service.
  • Off-Site: Counselling takes place by phone, by video call or at counsellor’s office
  • Appropriate Coverage: 24 hours a day hot-line with offices in towns and cities in which employees are located

Service

Employees and their family members may use EAPs to help manage issues in their personal lives. EAP counsellors typically provide assessment, support, and referrals to additional resources such as counsellors for a limited number of program-paid counselling sessions. The issues for which EAPs provide support vary, but examples include:

An EAP’s services are usually free to the employee and their household members, having been prepaid by the employer. In most cases, an employer contracts with a third-party company such as Good Counselling to manage its EAP. 

Confidentiality is maintained in accordance with privacy laws and ethical standards.