What Employers Need to Know About Employee Assistance Programs

By: Jennifer Leahy
September 22nd, 2011

No one exists in a vacuum. And while you may wish that employees could ignore all of their personal problems and responsibilities once they cross your threshold, that’s just not possible. Whether they are struggling with substance abuse, caring for an ailing family member or buried in debt, any number of problems can cause your employees to perform at less than peak levels.

“The line between personal and business lives is blurred. There shouldn’t be and isn’t a line between them,” says human resources strategist Anthony L. Onesto.

Although such life stressors may not technically be your problem, there are a myriad of implications on the employee’s work life. Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) began decades ago as a support system for those grappling with alcoholism, but they have expanded to include assistance for a wide variety of social problems.

The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) defines EAPs as “work-based intervention program designed to identify and assist employees in resolving personal problems (e.g., marital, financial or emotional problems; family issues; substance/alcohol abuse) that may be adversely affecting the employee’s performance.”

Plans should be fairly customized to each industry and company size and employee situations. Workforces comprising educated professionals in offices likely face different personal challenges than hourly workers in a factory.

Quantifying the exact return on investment for EAPs is fairly complex, but the benefit is easily seen. For example, NASA breaks down the impact of costs associated due to loss of productivity into two categories: hard costs and soft costs.

“Hard costs can be measured objectively and include statistics such as employee health insurance claims, days off from work, worker’s compensation costs and on the job accidents. ‘Soft’ costs are more difficult to measure, taking into account worker retention, training, and personal and workplace satisfaction, which directly impacts employee productivity,” according to NASA agency documentation.

Typically plans are entirely subsidized by employers and can offer benefits such as basic legal assistance and legal referrals, nurse hotlines, substance abuse assistance, mental health referrals and even adoption assistance.

Though offering such a plan is, obviously, entirely voluntary for employers, a growing number of employers are offering EAPs as a part of the benefit package.

Seventy five percent of respondents in the 2010 SHRM Employee Benefits survey indicated that they provide EAPs to their employees, a figure that has been slowly and steadily increasing since 2006, when only 71 percent offered the benefit.

As employee awareness of the value of benefits appears to be increasing, many workers are placing a greater emphasis on their benefits package. By offering EAPs, employers are likely to realize direct, measureable savings on health care costs and absenteeism. More subtle impacts will likely include decreased turnover and increased productivity.

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