Overview
An Employee Assistance Program is a voluntary, CONFIDENTIAL service providing short-term professional counseling and referral services designed to help you with your personal, job or family problems. Its purpose is to help employees and their families identify, resolve and gain control over personal problems that may be interfering with work and daily life. Through short-term counseling, the EAP can help you understand what options are available for virtually any issue or problem that may arise. Some of the more common concerns include:
Typically, Employee Assistance Program services are available to employees through their employer. More and more employers are including an EAP within their employee benefits plan because companies have realized that helping their employees resolve personal problems improves morale and improves productivity - - they're offering EAP services because they have learned that these personal work/life issues and/or problems can cost them a lot more money than what it costs for an EAP. (Our clients are saving $5 - $15 for every $1 in EAP cost.)
You may want to talk with an EAP Counselor if:
You spend much of your day worrying about a particular problem
Your job, family life, relationships or health are affected by a problem
You try to convince yourself that the problem will get better . . . but it never does
You realize you have a problem, but you don't know where to go for help
You have a problem and want to talk about it with someone
EAP services are available 24-hours a day, 365 days a year. Employees make their first contact by calling a specially designated 1-800 #. An initial assessment is then conducted to determine the nature and severity of the caller's problem. These initial assessments can be done over the telephone or scheduled at a Counselor's office. Based on the assessment findings, the Counselor will determine a course of action to resolve the problem. Many times, several short-term counseling sessions will resolve the issue or at least provide enough direction for the employee to resolve the problem. Assistance is available immediately. All you need to do is contact an EAP Counselor by dialing the toll-free number assigned to your employer. The Counselor will:
Help you assess the problem
Involve family members, when needed
Provide short-term counseling, when appropriate
Assist you in selecting a specific resource, when necessary
Follow-up to insure you receive quality assistance
Employee Benefits
Any problem that impacts on-the-job performance should be, and is, within the scope of our expertise. These areas include, but are not limited to: Personal, Family, Eldercare, Childcare, Marriage, Alcohol, Drugs, Legal, Financial, Bereavement, Stress, Parenting and Workplace Violence issues. All are personal problems involving employees, family members and/or significant others, and when ignored, result in the loss of employment, the ruination of marriages, and all too often . . . the loss of life. HMSA has significant experience facilitating/assisting employees with difficult personal issues.
It is well documented that employee's personal problems involving family, substance and/or alcohol abuse and mental health issues have a dramatic negative impact on work performance and company productivity. For the employer, this results in increased absenteeism and turnover, increases in workers comp claims and increased use of inappropriate medical benefits. Add in the costs associated with low morale and reduced employee productivity, and the cost to business is absolutely staggering. HMSA offers employers a cost effective way for employees to access confidential, short-term counseling and referral services. Through our EAP services, HMSA has established an outstanding track record at involving family and helping employees with their difficulties and reversing the spiraling costs for employers.
Your company sponsored Employee Assistance Program should not be viewed as a new cost to your business - - that's because at HMSA, we fully expect your EAP to stand on its own, and save your company considerably more than the EAP cost. Not discounting variables such as the EAP model in use and the geographic distribution of your workforce, your EAP should save you $5 to $15 for every $1 invested in the EAP. An EAP is the most cost effective way for a company to manage its benefits utilization on a long-term basis.