Employee Assistance Programmes. Factors for Organisations to Consider

Abstract or Introduction

An Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) is a service that companies can make use of to provide information and support to their employees to help solve a variety of personal and work-related issues that may affect work and therefore their performance. This paper describes the benefits, costs and outcomes of an EAP, the lack of valid research underpinning its efficiency and the factors that organisations need to consider when introducing an EAP.

It is unequivocal that work has a big influence on employees. Unfortunately, this influence can both be positive and negative (Teasdale, 2006). To help prevent and limit any effects that might reduce performance or have other undesirable impacts on the employees and the business, a company can offer various services for employees to handle stress and other psychological disturbances. Companies can therefore implement some kind of workplace counselling, which offers a confidential place to speak about issues with a trained therapist.
One type of counselling is the Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), a strategic service for employers to provide support to their workforce.
First, this paper is going to explain what an EAP exactly is and what services are offered.
Then the benefits and reasons for implementing an EAP will be shown. Afterwards, the costs and possible doubts are described and brought into relation with the advantages in order to show if the model is useful and worth its costs. Finally, a guideline for factors to consider when implementing an EAP is given.