What is an Employee Assistance Program?
As an employee, you are not immune to mental health problems. You may occasionally face challenges in your personal life, which can have an impact on your mental health and overall well-being. Needless to say, this may easily spill over into the workplace and influence your employee performance, which can manifest in a variety of ways, including:
- More sick days
- A lack of focus on the job
- Discord among team members when members fail to provide their fair share
- Resignation if you feel unable to cope in job
For these above reasons and more, many employers are now beginning to recognise the benefits of providing Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs). If your employer offers this service, you may be interested to know more, such as what is an EAP and how does it work?
What is an EAP service and how does it work?
EAP services are a confidential workplace therapy service that your employer funds – this means the service is free for you to use. Most employers agree on a session limit per calendar year i.e., 5 company funded sessions per year.
EAP is provided by your company to help you cope with both work-related and personal problems. Depending on the arrangement, your workplace EAP service can sometimes extend to family members too.
It allows you to access immediate help when you are facing stressful situations in your life. This may include help for concerns such as:
- Workplace conflict – suggestions and advice on how to deal with difficult co-workers
- Mental health concerns – strategies to help with with feelings caused by anxiety, depression, anger management or other issues
- Family advice – help with parenting, adjusting back into the workplace after childbirth, couples counselling and help to cope with divorce and child custody issues
- Financial counselling – help on how to avoid debt and bankruptcy
- Addiction – advice on how to deal with gambling problems and alcohol or drug use
- Grief assistance – support for staff who have lost a loved one or after the loss of a co-worker
Our EAP services also include workshops that cover a variety of topics such as effective stress management, team building and mindfulness in the workplace.
A really important point to remember is that any help you receive through an EAP service will remain confidential. While your employer may fund a number of sessions, they are in no way entitled to know your specific use for this service and they will receive no reporting regarding your individual sessions. Everything will be anonymised.
If you are wondering whether your workplace has an EAP service in place, why not have a chat to them? If your employer states they are happy for you to use our service, please call our team on 1800 327 477 or drop us an email at reception@positivemindworks.co. We look forward to supporting you.
