OBJECTIVES: Employee assistance programs (EAPs) are job-based programs designed to identify and assist troubled employees. This study determines the prevalence, cost, and characteristics of these programs in the United States by worksite size, industry, and census region. METHODS: A stratified national probability sample of more than 6400 private, nonagricultural US worksites with 50 or more full-time employees was contacted with a computer-assisted telephone interviewing protocol. More than 3200 worksites responded and were eligible, with a response rate of 90%. RESULTS: Approximately 33% of all private, nonagricultural worksites with 50 or more full-time employees currently offer EAP services to their employees, an 8.9% increase over 1985. These programs are more likely to be found in larger worksites and in the communications/utilities/transportation industries. The most popular model is an external provider, and the median annual cost per eligible employee for internal and external programs was $21.83 and $18.09, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: EAPs are becoming a more prevalent point of access to health care for workers with personal problems such as substance abuse, family problems, or emotional distress.

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<p><strong>Abstract.</strong> High frequency measurements of the potent hydrofluorocarbon greenhouse gas CHF<sub>3</sub> (HFC-23), a by-product of production of the hydrochlorofluorocarbon HCFC-22 (CHClF<sub>2</sub>), at five core stations of the Advanced Global Atmospheric Gases Experiment (AGAGE) network, combined with measurements of firn and Cape Grim Air Archive (CGAA) air samples, are used to explore the changing atmospheric abundance of HFC-23. These measurements are used in combination with the AGAGE 2-D atmospheric 12-box model and a Bayesian inversion methodology to determine model atmospheric mole fractions and the atmospheric history of global HFC-23 emissions. The global modelled annual mole fraction of HFC-23 in the background atmosphere was 28.9 ± 0.6 pmol mol<sup>−1</sup> at the end of 2016, representing a 28 % increase from 22.6 ± 0.4 pmol mol<sup>−1</sup> in 2009. Over the same time frame, the modelled mole fraction of HCFC-22 increased by 19 % from 199 ± 2 pmol mol<sup>−1</sup> to 237 ± 2 pmol mol<sup>−1</sup>. However, the annual average HCFC-22 growth rate decelerated from 2009 to 2016 at an annual average rate of 0.5 pmol mol<sup>−1</sup> yr<sup>−2</sup>. <br><br> Our results demonstrate that, following a minimum in HFC-23 global emissions in 2009 of 9.6 ± 0.6 Gg yr<sup>−1</sup>, emissions increased to a maximum in 2014 of 14.5 ± 0.6 Gg yr<sup>−1</sup>, declining to 12.7 ± 0.6 Gg yr<sup>−1</sup> (157 Mt  CO<sub>2</sub>-eq. yr<sup>−1</sup>) in 2016. The 2009 emissions minimum is consistent with estimates based on national reports and is likely a response to the implementation of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) to mitigate HFC-23 emissions by incineration in developing (Non-Annex 1) countries under the Kyoto Protocol. Our derived cumulative emissions of HFC-23 during 2010–2016 were 89 ± 2 Gg (1.1 ± 0.2 Gt CO<sub>2</sub>-eq), which led to an increase in radiative forcing of 1.0 ± 0.1 mW m<sup>−2</sup>. Although the CDM had reduced global HFC-23 emissions, it cannot now offset the radiative forcing of higher emissions from increasing HCFC-22 production in Non-Annex 1 countries, as the CDM was closed to new entrants in 2009. We also find that the cumulative European HFC-23 emissions from 2010 to 2016 were ~ 1.3 Gg, corresponding to just 1.5 % of cumulative global HFC-23 emissions over this same period.</p>

Employee assistance programs (EAPs) have gained significant importance in contemporary worksites. This article uses data from 6 case studies to examine several research questions regarding the relationship between worker demographic (e.g., gender, job tenure, and marital status), substance use, and workplace policies and the actual and potential use of the company EAP. Unlike in most of the existing literature, the authors did not find that gender, marital status, or job dissatisfaction are statistically related to actual or potential EAP use at most worksites. However, job tenure and some substance use behaviors were related to actual EAP use in a positive and statistically significant way. Another important finding, underlying the credible integration of EAPs into worksite culture, is the positive and robust relationship between employee trust and confidence in the EAP and actual use. The results of our study both reinforce some long-established principles in the EAP field and encourage further consideration of other beliefs.

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