04 Dec Do Your Employees Need An Employee Assistance Program (EAP)?

An employee assistance program (EAP) is like a cup of coffee in the morning. Whether or not it helps you start your day doesn’t depend on the brand of the coffee. It depends on who makes it for you; because when things get hectic at work, all you need is someone to turn to when there’s no one else around to help you save face. It’s like that hotshot barista that knows exactly the right mix of warm milk and espresso to make your day run well even in these hard economic times; they’re always making sure you’re getting top-notch ingredients within a personalized atmosphere of comfort and care, reassuring you everything will be okay.

Why do Employees Need an Employee Assistance Program (EAP)?

Small businesses especially need that cup of coffee. Why? Unlike large companies, small businesses often have a small staff. While there are benefits to having a small team, one of the downsides is not being able to rely on an HR department or management consulting to handle issues that employees may face. The owner, therefore, is often forced to adopt many of these responsibilities in addition to running the business itself so it’s important they find ways to keep things manageable!

Simply put, an employee assistance program (EAP) offers employees professional and confidential assistance to help them with their personal, family, and work issues. Most often, these services come as a benefit with little to no charge to the employee. This helps small business owners manage their businesses while still showing their employees that they care.

What Kind of Benefits Are Offered?

Short-Term Counseling

One of the most significant benefits of an employee assistance program is having readily available, confidential support from qualified professionals for personal, family, and work-related issues. Counseling services can include assessments, remote short-term help, or referrals.

When your company’s benefits program includes EAP services, your employees could quickly locate and be able to talk to a helpful mental health professional without incurring out-of-pocket costs.

• Employee counseling can help with:
• Stress/Anxiety
• Depression/Other Mood Disorders
• Substance Use/Addiction
• Behavioral Disorders
• Family/Parenting Issues
• Relationship/Marital Concerns
• Domestic Violence/Abuse
• Trauma
• LGTBQIA Issues
• Work/Life Balance
• Grief, Loss, and Bereavement
• Bullying/Harassment

Financial Services

Finances are often one of the top three stressors for employees. The global pandemic certainly hasn’t helped people’s anxiety regarding finances. EAPs provide financial experts to help employees with complicated issues such as budgeting, controlling debt, teaching children to manage money, investing for college, and preparing for retirement.

Here are some of the financial concerns that EAPs can offer consultation:

• Developing a Spending Plan
• Rebuilding Your Credit
• Getting Out of Debt
• Garnishments
• Tax Levy/Wage Garnishment Resolution Program
• Pre-Retirement Analysis
• 401(k) Analysis
• Home Buying Strategies
• Mortgage Counseling
• College Funding Analysis
• Income Tax Services
• Student Loan Debt

Legal Assistance

Believe it or not, many EAPs include a legal resource benefit. This benefit provides employees with access to no-cost legal information that assists them in the understanding of various legal issues. A few of their most popular benefits are listed below:

• Civil / Consumer Issues
• Personal / Family Legal Services
• Financial Matters
• Real Estate
• Criminal Matters
• Divorce / Child Custody
• Estate Planning Law
• Immigration and Naturalization

After a phone consultation, if it is determined that the employee needs to hire a lawyer, the EAP will be able to recommend a qualified attorney specializing in the needed area.

Work-Life Balance

Every employer knows that family issues or unexpected situations will arise with their employee at some point. Life is full of surprises, and many times employees are navigating life situations they have not dealt with before—like taking care of an elderly parent, facing divorce, housing or transportation issues, the list goes on.

Our available work-life solutions include:

• Lunch and Learn workshops on your company’s premises
• Telephonic consultation regarding information on childcare and eldercare services
• Employee Newsletters filled with tips to help in every area of life
• Our wellbeing website that offers various resources for work/life balance

Personal Wellness

What is meant by the term “wellness”? Wellness is not only about exercising and maintaining good nutrition. It also is not only about work-life balance. Wellness is a holistic term that includes making positive choices and having a sense of fulfillment spiritually, occupationally, psychologically, physically, environmentally, and socially.

Our available wellness solutions include:

• Lunch and Learn workshops on your company’s premises
• Telephonic consultation regarding information on a number of wellness resources; i.e. support groups like “weight watchers” or “smoking cessation”
• Employee newsletters filled with resources, information, and tips such as “How to Increase Your Energy—Naturally”
• Our wellbeing website that offers the following wellness solutions:
  • Interactive health assessments
  • Streaming audio and video covering a wide range of physical, mental, and emotional health topics
• Care Plus Solutions also has expanded, optional wellness services available per request

If you have not already considered adding an employee assistance program to the list of benefits you offer your staff, it’s time to do so. EAPs can be instrumental in helping you retain excellent employees as you’ve always wanted—especially if you don’t have a large HR department to help employees work through the numerous issues that unexpectedly pop up in life. Staff members tend to work harder for employers when they know that the employer cares about them and their wellbeing. Employee assistance programs are one small way in which employers can show their employers that they care!

Care Plus Solutions is America’s first EAP and is headquartered in New York and has offices in New Jersey. Over the course of the company’s 46 year history, their brand has remained firmly rooted in the rich history of the EAP field, never losing sight of the fundamental purpose of the EAP; delivering personal and quality services to those in need. It is fair to say that Care Plus Solutions is the gold standard in the field of Employee Assistance.