What Are the Benefits of EAP to an Employee?

An EAP can be a valuable benefit.

Many companies now make an employee assistance program (EAP) part of their standard package of benefits. These plans carry a number of important benefits for both employees and employers, allowing workers to get the help they need and stay on the job. Employee assistance programs also provide confidential access to a range of services, including everything from grief counseling to drug and alcohol programs.

Confidentiality

The problems employee assistance programs deal with are often sensitive, including depression, mental health issues and drug and alcohol abuse. Employee assistance programs provide workers with a safe and confidential way to express their problems and deal with the stresses in their lives. This confidentiality is an important aspect of the EAP, since many workers would be reluctant to seek assistance with such personal problems without a guarantee of confidentiality.

Avoiding Legal Problems

Many workers use employee assistance programs to deal with drug and alcohol abuse, and getting help with those problems is one way to head off potential legal issues, as well as other problems. Employees who have access to an employee assistance program through their offices can get help with their drug and alcohol problems early, without worrying about the cost and without concerns that their problems will be revealed to their coworkers.

Stay On the Job

Having access to an employee assistance program allows workers to stay on the job, even as they work through such serious emotional and medical issues as depression and substance abuse. Without an employee assistance program employees might not be able to maintain employment, and that could add a financial burden on top of other problems.

Costs

Professional counseling and psychiatric treatment can be extremely expensive, and that makes an employee assistance program one of the most valuable benefits an employee has. If employees have access to an employee assistance program, they can access a number of treatments at no cost. In addition to those free services, an employee assistance program might also provide workers with access to lower cost services over and above what is offered as part of their benefit packages.

References

• EAP Consultants: Benefits of an Employee Assistance Program
• University of Alaska: Employee Assistance Program