What is an Employee Assistance Programme?
The purpose of the Employee Assistance Programme is to support employees at challenging times in their lives
Book a Free Consultation TodayThe reason companies provide this benefit is to look after their employees (as a caring employer) and to act as a barometer for the overall wellbeing of their workforce. Over 150,000 companies in the UK make an EAP available to their employees.
EAP schemes are a low cost, high value tool, which helps reduce absenteeism by providing support for potentially debilitating personal issues and stress-related illnesses.
EAP schemes have proven to be incredibly powerful in supporting large numbers of employees in the event of a tragedy in the business, such as the death of a colleague. EAP providers can also arrange for onsite counsellors and support services.
The purpose of the Employee Assistance Programme is to support employees at challenging times in their lives
Book a Free Consultation TodayAn Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) is specifically designed to help your employees in the event they require support with some of the challenges that life throws at them. This could be:
Challenges at work, Relationship difficulties at home, Legal problems, Debt or money worries, Stress / Anxiety / Depression, Relationship difficulties at work, Bereavement Problems with drugs and alcohol and Eating disorders Trauma.
An EAP scheme provides employees with access to a telephone counsellor to talk through their concerns. The employee can also attend face to face counselling sessions which they arrange directly with their EAP counsellor.
If your business can possibly spare c.£10 per employee per year, My Benefits World would advocate spending this on an EAP scheme. Whilst the scheme is a cost to the business, over a period of three years if this prevents just one employee leaving due to personal issues it can repay the investment several fold.
An EAP scheme can also help your business demonstrate that you have support mechanisms in place in the event an employee brings a grievance or takes you to tribunal.