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We understand that creating supportive, healthy work environments is a top priority for leaders in Community Living organizations.
From house managers to direct service workers, workplace stress can be created through long hours, challenging tasks or change. There are many ways to combat this stress, and an EAP is a great cost-effective way to help improve overall health within an organization.
The goal of this message is to answer some common questions regarding EAPs and provide useful information that may help you analyze if these services are a good fit for your organization.
What services are included in an EAP?
The purpose of an EAP is to make the lives of workers easier in and outside of work, which ultimately leads to a more productive work environment. Because work life blends into personal life and personal life into work life, EAPs are designed to help people deal with a wide range of issues, not only job-related matters. All services in an EAP are optional, and intended to meet the diverse needs of a large or small workforce.
Short term one-on-one counselling sessions* make up the bulk of EAPs, but there are a wide variety of other services available.
EAP providers' trained counsellors can assist in the following:
Individual/Family Counselling Services:
• Marital, family and child counselling
• Work-related counselling, including interpersonal conflict counselling
• Personal and emotional counselling, including stress testing, psychological assessments and specialized addictions treatment
• Childcare counselling, including information and resources pertaining to day care centres, nannies, special needs care and emergency care agencies
• Financial consultation and assessments, including budgeting techniques and debt management tools
• Legal advisory services, including access to experienced lawyers with information on consumer law, family law, motor vehicle law and employment law
Organizational Development/Consulting Services:
• Critical Incident Response Services, including on-site individual and group debriefing sessions
• Management consulting, including policy development and change management issues
• Training programs for workers and management, including emergency preparedness programs designed to train staff to handle workplace incidents, natural disasters and flu outbreaks
• Wellness programs, including personal health education and resources
*Long term counselling services are not included in an EAP. Counsellors will, however, refer patients in need of a long-term solution to a suitable counselling program.
Who Delivers these Services?
There are a wide variety of private and public EAP providers. Health Canada is one example of a public service provider, operating Employee Assistance Services (EAS). In gathering information for this article, I spoke to Meera Rew, of Family Services Employee Assistance Programs (FSEAP), a national network of service agencies in Canada with roots in community-based counselling services.
The standard for EAP providers it to employ counsellors with a minimum Masters level education with at least five years experience in their field. All employed counsellors at the above organizations are also members of a professional association abiding by professional ethical codes.
Are there privacy Issues?
EAPs offer a very high rate of confidentiality across the board. Only collective statistical data on employee groups is released to the employer. These reports inform the employer of the types of services used during the billing period, and the amount of service provided. No names or specific information is included.
Other steps are also taken to ensure EAP participants maintain their anonymity. For example, scheduling is arranged to ensure two people from the same company are not scheduled back to back, to avoid them sitting in the same waiting area together. In some cases, there may also be separate entrance/exits to avoid coworkers running in to each other.
There are exceptions to this, as in the case of possible perceived harm to the patient, harm to others, court subpoenas, child abuse or neglect and other cases where the respective counsellor must let authorities know.
What will it cost?
For organizations who choose to adopt an EAP, costs are covered by the employer and vary by EAP provider and organization.
Factors that affect pricing include:
• Number of employees
• Level of risk associated with specific industry
• Choice of services
Source: We thank Meera Rew, of Family Services Employee Assistance Programs (FSEAP), for her input and information that greatly helped in the development of this article. Thank you very much!
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