Employee Assistance Programmes - EAP
About Employee Assistance Programmes (EAP)
An Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) is a voluntary and confidential service to support employees dealing with personal problems that might adversely impact their work performance, as well as their personal health and wellbeing.
EAP’s can assist employees to deal with a range of issues including:
- Stress and burnout
- Work related stress
- Conflict
- Grief and loss
- Anxiety
- Interpersonal relations
- Critical or traumatic incidents
- Problematic substance use or behaviours
EAP’s are for the benefit of employees and in some cases they can also include immediate family members. They are usually provided at no cost to the employee.
Benefits of an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP)
Happy and healthy employees create a positive and productive work environment.
They are at the core of a company or organisation and are central to its success.
When personal problems prevent employees from doing their best work, it impacts work focus, leads to a reduction in productivity and can also negatively impact teamwork and collegial relationships.
Employee Assistance Programmes (EAP) benefits both companies and employees in some of the following ways:
They improve employee productivity.
When employees are distracted by personal problems, they lose focus impacting on motivation, creativity and productivity.
They boost employee retention.
EAPs create a culture of care for employees. It places a priority on employee wellbeing and is reflective of a holistic approach to staff. This creates a more satisfying work environment where employees can feel supported with both work related and personal issues. Hiring and re-training of new employees is both time consuming and costly.
They reduce employee absenteeism.
Healthy employees take fewer sick days. EAPs provide key external support helping problems to be addressed professionally and timely thereby reducing workplace impact.
They encourage a positive work environment.
Businesses who value their employees have a more content, productive workplace. External professional support for troubled employees means personal issues are less likely to bleed into the workplace. This reduces impact on interpersonal relationships with co-workers.
How an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) works
An EAP is a support that is usually provided free to employees but the service is not mandatory for them to use. It is provided for the direct benefit of employees, and often, though not always, includes direct family members. Through an EAP companies or organisations offer access to independently provided therapy (counselling and psychotherapy), usually by way of 4 to 8 separate one hour sessions.
An EAP is a confidential resource and all services are provided completely independently of the employer. This is a fundamentally important principle in order that employees can feel safe and confident using the service. Employees must feel comfortable that any information they share will remain completely confidential and that there is no feedback to their line management or HR function. Employers can expect to receive reports showing that the EAP resource is being used but without in any way compromising the privacy of the individual.
How is our EAP service offered?
At CounsellingandTherapy.com, once an EAP programme is put in place, any employee who wishes to speak with a Therapist can contact us directly by phone (085 1760155) or email us at counsellingandtherapyenquiry@gmail.com directly and independent of their employer. Following this contact, we will source a suitable Therapist for the employee who will make contact with the individual to arrange an appointment. The times and locations of the sessions are agreed between the Therapist and the employee. These sessions do not take place in a workplace location.
Employees are invited to provide feedback on their experience of the service to ensure the highest standards of care and professionalism are maintained. Following completion of the sessions provided via the EAP, and should the individual wish to continue with the therapy support, at their own expense, this can be facilitated subject to Therapist availability.
EAP Contact Details:
Phone: 085 1760155
Email: counsellingandtherapyenquiry@gmail.com
