Ease Your Mind Increase benefits and save on health insurance with an EAP.
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One of your employees is going through a divorce, and therelated stress and anxiety are creating a negative impact on hisperformance. Another is experiencing problems with her child-careprovider, making her frequently late or absent. Still anotheremployee is trying to cope with an out-of-control teenager,spending hours of each workday either on the phone or talking withother employees about the situation.
It would be great if employees could just leave their personalproblems at home, get to work on time and do what's expected ofthem-but because that's not likely to ever be a reality, youneed to look for ways to help. One of the most efficient andaffordable options is the Employee Assistance Plan (EAP).
EAPs are becoming an increasingly common component of employerbenefits packages, taking a broad-brush approach to assistingemployees with virtually all their problems, includingpsychological issues, marital and family issues, substance abuseand more, says Gus Stieber, director of business development forVMC Behavioral Healthcare Services, an EAP firm located in Gurnee,Illinois. Even if your health insurance includes mental-healthcoverage, EAPs usually provide earlier intervention (and thereforeearlier resolution) for a broader range of issues that sometimes goway beyond mental health. EAPs will refer situations to insurancewhen appropriate if they are unable to deal with the circumstanceor problem at hand.
Stieber says referring to an EAP is less expensive than usinginsurance, often saving companies 20 to 30 percent or more on theirmental-health and substance-abuse costs. But, says Stieber,"the biggest savings is in terms of the wellness aspects thatEAPs offer." For example, many EAPs offer programs such ashealth fairs, stress-management classes and a variety of work-lifeprograms, such as assistance with child care, elder care, financialplanning and legal issues-which all help smaller companies to offerbig-corporation-style benefits packages to their employees.
Some EAPs also offer valuable supervisory training. "About60 percent of a supervisor's time is typically spent dealingwith the personal problems of employees-problems they haven'tbeen trained to deal with, nor is it in any way appropriate forthem to deal with these kinds of problems," says Stieber."When you bring in an EAP, you can train your supervisors tore-fer to the EAP, which is the most appropriate place to deal withpersonal problems. That way, you'll be able to enhanceproductivity at the management level."
EAPs typically charge either an annual flat rate or a per-personannual rate, and are becoming increasingly affordable to both smalland large employers. Stieber recommends checking out severalproviders before finally choosing an EAP. If you have troublefinding an EAP you like, you might want to ask your insurance agentto refer one to you. Be sure to look at their lists of services andprograms, limitations, types of employee and supervisoryorientation, and accessibility. Finally, Stieber says, find out ifthey are able to provide critical-incident management to help youin the event of workplace violence or a serious on-the-jobaccident.
Contact Source
- VMC Behavioral Healthcare Services, (800) 843-1327, ext.521, www.vmceap.com.
