EAPA welcomes recommendations to retain EAP tax relief
Dated: 21/11/2011
The UK Employee Assistance Professionals Association is delighted that the ‘Health at Work – an independent review of sickness absence’ report by Dame Carol Black and David Frost CBE, published today, recommends the retention of the existing tax relief on employee assistance programmes (EAPs).
“EAPs are extremely effective when it comes to supporting employee attendance and thereby contribute positively to reducing absence in the workplace. They are important strategic interventions that have a specific workplace focus. By concentrating on early intervention and enabling employees to resolve day-to-day issues that can affect their productivity and performance at work, EAPs are vital to the health of organisations and their employees,” comments David Smith, chair of UK EAPA.
“Over 10 million employees in the UK have access to EAP services and this report rightly acknowledges that EAPs have expanded in recent years and are now commonly offered by organisations. Given their reach and impact, taxing EAPs would be a significant disincentive for employers to offer this type of support and service and would certainly have a negative impact on the health and wellbeing of the workforce. As an Association we welcome the findings of this Review and its recommendations that existing tax relief of EAPs be retained. We look forward to confirmation from Government that they will be accepted,” says David Smith.
In the meantime the UK EAPA continues to represent the interests of employee assistance, psychological health and wellbeing professionals by investing in research to review the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of programmes, as well as supporting purchasers and providers of EAPs to provide the highest standards of support and service to organisations, their employees and managers.
You can read The ‘Health at Work – an independent review of sickness absence’ report by Dame Carol Black and David Frost CBE in full at http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/health-at-work.pdf. Please refer to pages 12 and 48 for direct references to EAPs.
