Employee Assistance Programs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Employee Assistance Programs - Essay Example Employee Assistance Programs can be categorized into five types which can be referred to as full service, peer-assisted, integrated, compliance, and wrap-around versions. A Full-Service EAP, as the term implies, provides a wide array of programs that are internally staffed, well-financed and entails a management support system. It likely provides on-site counseling services and takes a proactive role in managing critical employment issues such as debriefing the staff following unforeseen incidents and preparing the staff both economically and psychologically prior to changes in their job status which could include coping with a planned layoffs due to corporate downsizing. Full-service EAP’s constantly review the employee’s needs at a particular company and develop services to meet the demands. As a result, many programs include disability, financial, legal and sexually transmitted disease counseling in addition to child and elderly parent care assistance for employees. The program is managed by an outside firm such as Value Behavioral Health or Ceridian which performs these services and offers many types of employee assistance packages. Though the full-service programs are a costly up-front expense for the employer, currently in the $50 per-employee per-year range, the long-term savings resulting from a full-service EAP makes it a sound investment for the future. Peer-assisted Peer-assisted EAP’s often are implemented for employees that do not have access to a formal EAP service.