An Employee Assistance Program (EAP) is a confidential, short-term counseling service for employees with personal difficulties that may affect their work performance. It is an employee benefit program offered by a company to help employees resolve problems that could interfere with their job. The idea is to address personal issues before they interfere with work performance and productivity. The employee assistance program is one of the main benefits offered by employers in North America for good reason.
It provides support to help resolve or manage problems that may interfere with an employee's ability to do their job. What began as alcohol consumption assistance programs has grown to help people with financial, physical and family health problems, and since 2000, mental health programs have expanded rapidly as more is known about post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injuries (TBI). Employees expect the same level of customization, ease of use and experience they get as consumers in terms of the benefits they access as employees. However, like health insurance, many employee assistance programs are also available to help the employee's spouse or partner.
In that case, employees have access to the service, but the organization only pays for the number of sessions booked by employees. In 1962, The Kemper Group introduced a program to address alcoholic rehabilitation and later expanded the program to also address the needs of the families of its employees. Employee assistance programs (EAP) are benefits that some employers use to help their workers access short-term counseling or therapy services, as well as to provide some types of psychological evaluation. The goal of an employee assistance program is to ensure that employees can manage their daily lives while remaining productive, even in the midst of challenging circumstances or experiences. Employee assistance programs (EAP) are one of the ways companies try to support the well-being of team members. An EAP is a voluntary, confidential program that helps employees (including management) overcome several life challenges that can adversely affect work performance, health and personal well-being to optimize the success of an organization.
The provision of employee support services has generated business benefits, such as increased employee productivity and a decrease in presenteeism and absenteeism. Generally, an organization offers employee assistance programs at little or no cost. The right employee assistance programs can be a cost-effective way to add value and improve employee retention. They offer employers a way to help their teams deal with life's challenges before they have a significant impact on work.
