Who Needs an Employee Assistance Program?

Contextualising the Effectiveness of an Employee Assistance Program Intervention on Psychological Health: The Role of Corporate Climate

“…To understand how EAPs could be improved, we need first to understand the role and purpose of EAPs and how they are used in organisations. EAPs are a type of workplace intervention initially created as a result of occupational drug and alcohol problems [16], but were then further designed to support staff, mitigate risk [17], address wider mental health issues and assist employees with personal and work-related problems that affect work performance. These include, but are not limited to, marital issues, financial stressors, family/relationship issues, emotional stress, work stressors, addictions, grief, trauma and serious illnesses [18,19].…”

The “Too Hard Basket”: managing workplace bullying

“…“An EAP is a set of professional services specifically designed to improve and/or maintain the productivity and healthy functioning of the workplace and to address a work organization’s particular business needs” (EAPA, 2018). EAPs originated in response to problems of alcohol and drug dependency and the impact on job performance and productivity (Compton, 1988; Kramar et al , 2011). Today, however, EAPs are much broader in focus and are more closely integrated with the provision of HR management services, employee benefits and organisational duty of care (Arthur, 2000; Compton and McManus, 2015; Mellor-Clark, et al , 2013) and have been described by Compton (1988) as “an effective strategy for assisting employees where personal or work-related problems are affecting their work” (p. 110).…”

“…EAPs originated in response to problems of alcohol and drug dependency and the impact on job performance and productivity (Compton, 1988; Kramar et al , 2011). Today, however, EAPs are much broader in focus and are more closely integrated with the provision of HR management services, employee benefits and organisational duty of care (Arthur, 2000; Compton and McManus, 2015; Mellor-Clark, et al , 2013) and have been described by Compton (1988) as “an effective strategy for assisting employees where personal or work-related problems are affecting their work” (p. 110). A well-established and funded EAP might offer assistance related to smoking cessation, alcohol and drug dependency, health and well-being, stress management, depression, mental illness, relationship and family issues, bereavement, financial concerns and work-related problems (Arthur, 2000; Compton, 1988; Compton and McManus, 2015; Kramar et al , 2011; Kurzman, 2013; Mellor-Clark et al , 2013), which contributes to the difficulty in achieving agreement over the nature and role of EAPs (Kirk and Brown, 2003).…”

“…The nature of the programs available and how to access them varies quite widely. Similar to the early EAPs, employees can be referred by a supervisor or can self-refer (Compton, 1988; Kramar et al , 2011). Following the initial professional assessment or counselling session, an employee might receive further in-house assistance or be referred to an appropriate outside provider, dependent upon their needs, for short-term counselling (Kirk and Brown, 2003).…”