An Employee Assistance Program (or EAP) is an employee benefit that typically offers employees and their family members a broad range of services, including:
- Substance abuse treatment;
- Stress-related problems;
- Financial and legal difficulties,
- Marriage and family problems; and
- Psychological and workplace conflict
What EAPs Do
EAPs provide employees and their families with access to confidential and professional assistance when they need it.
- When employees recognize a concern and access their EAP, the EAP can help resolve concerns and prevent problems in the workplace.
- When problems do appear on the job, EAPs help supervisors and managers work with employees to address the problems, seek and receive appropriate counseling or treatment, and return to work with renewed productivity.
Why Offer an EAP
Businesses have recognized that many everyday life stresses can negatively affect employee attendance and concentration, the general workplace morale, and an employee's ability to perform well on the job. Conversely, if your employees are doing well and day-to-day problems are not a distraction, employees are more likely to be alert, motivated and concentrating on their job. This means your company is more productive. Secondly, it costs more to hire and train a new employee than it does to help and keep a current employee. Today, many companies provide EAP services for their employees.
How EAPs are Provided
EAP services are often provided as an employee benefit without cost to employees or family member. The confidentiality of the service often means that employers are not aware of which employees are using the service. In most cases, an employer contracts with a third-party company. You can click here for a directory by state of Employee Assistance Program (EAP) providers.
EAPs and Drug Testing
A handful of states require some employers to offer Employee Assistance Programs to employees who test positive for drugs before penalizing the employee in accordance with an employer drug testing policy. For more on your state’s drug testing policy, please see Drug Testing under your state by clicking here.