Why Is An EAP Important?
Americans are working harder than ever. But life doesn't always happen on your preferred schedule. It can interrupt and make doing your job harder. However, many employers offer Employee Assistance Programs to help employees deal with problems before they affect the workplace.
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What is an EAP?
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EAPs help employees work through problems that could impact employees' work performance. These could include financial distress, legal problems, depression, grief, workplace conflict and family issues.
Typical Features
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EAP services are free, and participation is voluntary.
The EAP provider gives you ways to mitigate your problem and refers you to other services if your problem is severe.
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Services to Employers
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The EAP exists to reduce how much time you take off to deal with issues, prevent you from quitting over your problems, and make sure you don't get the company sued because you bring your problems to work.
Good EAPs
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A good EAP has: well-trained, certified EAP providers; culturally competent providers; and providers knowledgeable of union/labor relations issues.
Considerations
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Not every state regulates EAP providers.
Under some circumstances, the EAP providers are required to reveal things about the services you get.
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References
- "Bureau of Labor Statistics: Access to Wellness and Employee Assistance Programs in the United States"; Eli R. Stoltzfus; April 2009
- "Society for Human Resource Management: A New Measure of EAP Success"; Dave Sharar and Richard Lennox; September 2009
- "Employee Assistance Professionals Association: Employee Assistance (EA) News, Events & Information"
Resources
- Photo Credit botton help in macro image by Alexey Klementiev from Fotolia.com