What to Expect from an Employee Assistance Program?

An Employee Assistance Program (EAP) is defined as one of the important work related programmes designed to assist employees in addressing the individual problems that affect the job performance, health or general welfare. The services provided by these programs are numerous and include mental, emotional, financial and legal services. Knowing what an employee assistance program eap provides can give employees the assurance they need plus the resources needed to overcome adverse circumstances. 

Employee Assistance Programs mainly refers to a range of services that help to address the needs of the employee. Housing these services within a continuum of care means that they range from mental health counseling up to legal and financial support. Here are the key areas commonly included in an EAP:

 Mental health support:

Mental health–Fact and myth Counseling services for anxiety, depression, stress, substance abuse among others. 

 Workplace conflict resolution:

Information on how to deal with a disagreement with another employee or with the manager. 

 Financial counseling:

Assistance with the following; budgeting for expenses, handling of debts, and making preparations for retirement. 

 Legal assistance:

Consultation and representation by lawyers for areas such as wills, estates and the like or family problems. 

Career development:

These services are normally accessed through private sessions with qualified individuals and ensure that the disputes are solved among the employees.  

How does Confidentiality Operates in an EAP? 

Another key component that is emphasized on in an Employee Assistance Program is the issue of anonymity. The problem is that to access the help through the EAP some of the employees fear that it will cause them to lose credibility in the workplace, however EAPs are carefully construct with strict confidentiality measures in mind. All the information disclosed in consultations remain between the consultant and the employee, hence the employer cannot interfere with such discussion. 

Substance abuse has the potential of not only affecting an employee’s health but also his or her job, and this is where the EAP plays a pivotal role in ensuring that the need of an employee will not be report to the employee’s supervisor without his or her permission, and recommends that no employee should lose his or her job as a result of seeking EAP services. Such privacy makes more individuals to freely access the services since they know their identity is safe from the general public. 

Stress management techniques  

Financial counseling may be deliver through an EAP in the following manner… It is worth mentioning that many EAPs may include the opportunity to provide financial consultation to enhance the employees’ financial literacy. It might be a person in a process of making decision on how to manage his or her debts or a person planning for the future events such as home ownership, or retirement among all these issues the EAP financial advisory is a big plus. 

The financial Consultants within the EAP should assist the employees in the following ways;- How to develop a budget-Help the employee to understand the relevance of Credit Score-How an employee can have a healthy way of dealing with debts. This not only helps a person’s financial standing in life but also relieves him or her of the stress that is usually associate with financial hardships and enables the employee to concentrate on work.  

Can One Get a Legal Assistance Through an EAP? 

Well, there is another common service referr to as legal assistance that many EAPs offer to the workforce. However, EAPs do not mean that a person can get a lawyer to represent him or her in the civil legal system but it can obtain the services of a legal counselor for different personal issues involving family, wills and succession, and even disagreements with landlords. Readers are firstly able to get advise, understand their rights & also get referr to the right legal assistance in handling their concerns. 

One aspect of the legal support is when employees are confront with stress or tight schedules, these become overwhelming to them but the support provided, assists them to contain the problems without having them affect their performance.  

Can Family Members also access EAP Services? 

Many EAPs have a provision that results to the inclusion of the immediate family members or the members of the household of the employee. They were able to extend this one to build a structure of support that is pro-employee AND family. Most of the time, if the relatives are experiencing problems, the EAP can give resources and advice which have a positive impact on the employee both professionally and personally. 

This inclusion of the family services will enable the program to address other issues other than work in an employee hence covering all aspects.