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In this Coronavirus pandemic, it’s vital for employees with access to Employee Assistance Programmes (EAP) to reach out and use these services, says UK EAPA chair Eugene Farrell

Written by Vicky Mulchinock on . Posted in News

In this Coronavirus pandemic, it’s vital for employees with access to Employee Assistance Programmes (EAP) to reach out and use these services, says UK EAPA chair Eugene Farrell

Coronavirus has broken out over us all in a fast and unnerving way. Things are changing rapidly as the situation evolves. For everyone, there is huge uncertainty about the future. Understandably, this is creating angst among the population, affecting every aspect of our lives. For some, this is leading to greater feelings of anxiety, to which, of course, some people are already prone. For them, the coronavirus scare is exacerbating those feelings and emotions.

Losing a sense of safety

It’s natural that when our world becomes severely disrupted, it undermines our sense of safety. We lose control over things that we normally try to control. How we see ourselves in the context of our own world becomes less clear. Change happening too fast does not allow an individual time to change and adapt. This, too, can leave them feeling out of control, anxious and nervous. They may feel a sense of loss for the past, a feeling which, if left unresolved, can deepen and cause more complex mental health issues later.

Add to this already anxious mix the worry and concern for our own health and that of our family, particularly those at higher risk, and there is almost a perfect storm brewing that can be disastrous for our mental health, for our relationships, our work and our family.

Anxiety leading to problems at work

While we are having these concerns, it distracts us from our work, resulting in presenteeism, with more errors, less creativity and the potential for sickness absence.

If this pressure continues for a long time, it may undermine our normal resilience and allow doubt, negativity and maladaptive coping strategies to enter. The gradual chipping away of our resilience can be almost hidden and invisible until we go beyond a tipping point that is hard to come back from.

We also know that for some people, when they survey the fast-changing world, they see their own issues as being less important. In this scenario, they may also focus less on their issues while looking outwardly at the potential disaster before them. But this is only short-term: these issues will remain and can be unresolved. This can lead to a bounce back when things are worse and more complex to resolve.

Where the EAP can help

Talking over our worries and concerns can help to put them into some perspective and manage the feelings and emotions, to create strategies and approaches that will help us to regain a sense of control and thus remove the uncertainty.

EAPs can help employees by providing a place to talk over issues, fears, emotions and concerns. Fast access to specialist counsellors is available 24/7 and further support can be arranged in the form of counselling sessions. In the current climate of coronavirus, remote counselling will become the norm as social distancing means traditional face-to-face meetings will reduce. The format of telephone or digital counselling works just as well in

helping to tackle emotional issues.

EAPs can also provide legal and financial information from specialists and partners. They can help with debt, legislation changes and new benefit rules, providing information that may alleviate some of the fear and stress that this pandemic is bringing.

Some large American firms now offering help with at-home care as part of their Employee Assistance Programmes

Written by Vicky Mulchinock on . Posted in News

Some large American firms now offering help with at-home care as part of their Employee Assistance Programmes

Juggling being a care giver and trying to hold down a job creates stress for employee and employer alike – but it’s increasingly becoming the norm for many of us, as we look after our elderly and young.

Care home fees can go through the roof, so many of us want to put off going down that route for as long as possible. Plus, there’s the emotional side of wanting to do our best when it comes to elderly family members who, after all, are the ones who brought us up.

So where can an EAP step in? Over in the United States, some large companies – including ones listed on Fortune 500 – are now reported to be offering care giving services as part of their EAP, as stated by Home Health Care News in this interesting article.

Home Health Care reports how one provider, FirstLight, which offers in-home care, has now linked up with some large companies to help employees who are trying to arrange these practical services for their loved ones.

The issue is a big one: according to a 2018 Harvard Business School study around a third of surveyed employees said they had left their job due to personal care giving responsibilities with 80 per cent saying their care giving duties affected their productivity at work.

Services provided through an EAP offer the employee the chance to arrange care, often when an existing care plan has fallen through.

UK EAPA chair Eugene Farrell says: “Many people across the UK are providing regular care to their loved ones. While they do this out of love and support, there is no doubt that it brings an extra layer of responsibility which can affect a person in the workplace. News from the USA that now some employees can actually access practical, in-house care support through their EAP is great to hear. It shows that an EAP can provide a very broad offer to staff, as well as the confidential, 24/7 support that is the backbone of the service. I welcome these developments from overseas and would be very interested to hear anything similar happening in the UK.”

170,000 more employees and families to benefit from EAP services in New York, following recent announcement

Written by Vicky Mulchinock on . Posted in News

170,000 more employees and families to benefit from EAP services in New York, following recent announcement

Employee Assistance Program (EAP) services were expanded in February to around 170,000 New York City Department of Education (DOE) staff and their families.

The widened access to EAP was announced by New York City mayor Bill de Blasio, schools chancellor Richard A Carranza and Office of Labor Relations Commissioner Renee Campion.

New York City EAP services are free and confidential, and delivered by staff of licenced mental health providers.

They include assessment and evaluation interviews; clinical counselling where needed; referrals for treatment; support with alcohol and chemical dependency; assistance with finding financial and housing support; worksite visits to support employees who have been affected by a traumatic loss or event at work, plus help with issues such as caring for children or the elderly; domestic violence, sleep, abuse, suicidal thoughts, sexual assault, bullying, teen issues, anxiety, depression, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and stress.

Eugene Farrell, chair of UK EAPA, says: ““Teachers and teaching staff work extremely hard to support young people and I am delighted to see recognition of the effects this may bring on them and their families. The demands of the teaching profession are huge and I hope that these 170,000 employees and their families will feel able to take advantage of the new support services that have now been opened up to them.

“With teachers leaving the profession in the UK in droves, it would be interesting to see if a similar gesture of support from local authorities across the UK might have a positive effect on helping valued staff stay in their jobs.”

To read more about this story, see here

“Are people being let down by EAP?”

Written by Vicky Mulchinock on . Posted in News

“Are people being let down by EAP?”

Far from it, says Eugene Farrell, chair of UK EAPA – but it’s important to realise that EAPs were never intended to be the whole solution to rising problems with mental health. They are, however, a valuable starting point, without which many would perhaps not access the help they need. Here Eugene writes for the EAPA blog.

EAPs – the background

Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) have been providing support to employees since the mid-1980s when they arrived in the UK. At that time, there were very few providers. The concept of EAP was new, and talking to counsellors was still rather stigmatised and misunderstood. In the beginning, it was a struggle to get UK businesses to buy into the concept of providing support for employees who might have problems caused by work and home issues. But as time went on, with the increased focus on work related stress and some significant legal precedents, employers began to seriously take notice of what an EAP can do for the organisation and for its people. The popularity of EAPs has therefore increased significantly amongst employers. Research by Employee Benefits Magazine in 2019 showed that 90% of organisations in the UK now have an EAP in place, supporting millions of employees in this country. One could go so far as to argue that EAPs have in fact become an essential part of wellbeing management, and indeed mental health support in the workplace.

Do EAPs have value?

Given the popularity of EAPs, it is rather disturbing to see a recent criticism of EAP as letting people down and we would challenge this. Indeed, studies into the return on investment from EAP services show that employers can expect a financial return in the range of £4.2 to £9 for every £1 spent on EAP services. UK EAPA has also developed its own Return on Investment (ROI) calculator that enables organisations to see the possible return for their own programme. Try the ROI calculator here.

A short-term gateway to long-term help

But it’s to no detriment to EAPs to acknowledge that they have their limits. They are designed as brief intervention counselling programmes to support employees in the short term.

In today’s demand for mental health support it is easy to see an EAP as a provider of more services than it is, leading to expectations that may sometimes be too high. And here we come to the important point to stress: Just because an EAP does not provide longer term treatments does not mean that it is underperforming. All EAPs will provide assessment of the individual’s mental health needs and refer them to the most appropriate support or treatment. This means that where EAP is not the right support for an employee, they would be referred on.

This is how EAPs have always operated and ensures the individual can get access to support that is appropriate to them. It is an often-quoted statistic that one in four people have mental health issues in any year. It is not reasonable to expect all of those to seek treatment. They don’t. It is even less reasonable that all those who do seek treatment would be suitable for EAP. I just don’t see EAPs providing unsatisfactory service. The experience we have in the industry is quite the opposite. Customer satisfaction ratings out there in the market show that people value the service and support.

Counselling outcomes

There is also substantial evidence supporting the assertion that EAPs provide really good outcomes for those who access their services. A global report from Morneau Shepell, in conjunction with EAPA showed clear benefits for EAP: work presenteeism reduced from 56% to 28%, “problem work engagement” – in other words, people not engaging properly with their work due to outside work stress, reduced from 31% to 21%, and absenteeism reduced from 34% to 14%.

In a study commissioned by UK EAPA looking at counselling outcomes in the UK, out of some 28,000 cases, there was 70% recovery or improvement rate. Quite clearly, EAPs are not letting people down. They are an essential part of mental health support for employers, and form part of a range supports that an organisation might provide.

New consultation group to promote development of EAP in the UK

Written by Vicky Mulchinock on . Posted in News

New consultation group to promote development of EAP in the UK

A new consultation group is being set up to promote the development of Employee Assistance Programmes (EAP) in the UK.

The group is being made up of EAP providers, buyers, practitioners, related professional bodies, EAPA UK and the NHS. It is being set up after the latest branch meeting of UK EAPA in December 2019 which was the scene of wide-ranging discussion points as to how to promote EAP in this country, and how it should be developed for the future. The meeting was a collaborative exercise which had the aim of informing the direction of the UK EAPA board about the future of EAP strategy.

The well-attended meeting initially heard a presentation on the origins and history of EAPA International and how the UK EAPA chapter was formed. Since then, many market changes have taken place, and now here at EAPA UK we would like an increased presence and louder voice as the representative professional body for the industry, as well as increased consultation as the experts within the field of employee health and wellbeing.  Among the changes that the EAP industry has seen is an increasing number of stakeholders within the health and wellbeing market, and a wide variation of delivery models.

At the meeting, guests were divided into two groups and asked to consider several questions, with a view of helping EAPA UK’s strategy over the next one to three years. Suggestions that came out of the meeting were widely varied, and included trying to promote the EAP industry more in the UK by increasing benefits from membership of EAPA UK for both individuals and organisations. Asked what membership categories there should be within EAPA UK, it was suggested these could include EAP suppliers; a hybrid membership for those who don’t meet the current criteria: for example, cash plans and benefits organisations; clinical professionals, such as GPs, mental health nurses, community psychiatric nurses and counsellors; occupational health providers; services users; student members and providers of employee wellbeing services.

The question as to what an EAP actually is, and what it should be named, also came up, with the reaction in the room being that the term is very flexible and that a re-name might be in order.

The new consultation group is to work together to produce a paper to inform the future strategy of UK EAPA.

Companies which employ a dispersed workforce are presented with additional challenges when operating their EAP, study finds, but the results are more than worth it

Written by Vicky Mulchinock on . Posted in News

Companies which employ a dispersed workforce are presented with additional challenges when operating their EAP, study finds, but the results are more than worth it

In today’s age of flexible working, it is likely to become increasingly the case that companies are finding themselves with a more dispersed workforce.
It is often preferable in terms of work life balance for employees to be able to have some working time at home, and, if their job involves a lot of travelling, it may be more practical too.

And then there are the added benefits for companies of having smaller offices with lower bills to pay. Win win, perhaps, but when it comes to Employee Assistance Programmes (EAP), this does present an additional challenge for businesses in ensuring that all of the workforce have comparable access to these benefits.

An interesting recent study from Australia reinforced this view, when it found that remote education workers were using their EAP at a 13% lower rate than their counterparts based in the principal city of Adelaide.

The study, Cost-benefit analysis of an employee assistance program for a geographically dispersed workforce in South Australia”, from the Journal of Workplace Behavioural Health, published online on 24 October 2019, was a cost-benefit exercise of an EAP in a workforce of which 40.2 per cent were based outside Adelaide.

Despite the lower usage amongst remote workers, however, the ROI for the EAP was very encouraging, with financial benefits in terms of reduced sickness absence measured at 3.34 times the costs. Interestingly, the study also found that there was a 49% increase in counselling sessions delivered  face to face compared to telephone sessions. Indicating a preference for in-person counselling.

Eugene Farrell, chair of UK EAPA, says: “Studies like this are really useful tools for businesses to measure the success of their EAP. Apart from the satisfaction of offering a solid benefit to employees, and having the knowledge that your duty of care as an employer is being fulfilled, it’s good to know that the ROI of this EAP is very positive, despite the fact nearly half the workforce are based remotely.

“Clearly, a dispersed workforce in a huge country such as Australia is very challenging for businesses, but it’s valuable to know even in a much smaller country like the UK that geographical distance amongst a company’s workforce does present a challenge that may need to be thought about and overcome. It’s also interesting that despite the distances involved in this Australian study, everyone who used the EAP still preferred to talk to someone in person rather than over the phone, indicating they are prepared to travel in order to do so.”

Having international staff in your business is a challenge, which is why a global EAP is a must

Written by Vicky Mulchinock on . Posted in News

Having international staff in your business is a challenge, which is why a global EAP is a must

Relocating overseas is certainly a challenge for both employee and employer.

While exciting to those who love to travel and explore new lands, there are also many logistical and cultural differences to be aware of, to make the experience as positive as it can be. Healthcare systems in other countries, for example, operate differently, and it’s essential to know what to expect should your health take a turn for the worse while abroad. Employers with staff who have relocated overseas for their job have a duty of care to ensure that they have everything they need to live and work safely.

A recent article in the HR Director has lots of useful information as to what to watch out for when transferring to foreign climes.

Of particular note is the mention of the importance of the EAP within the process of overseas transfers for work.

An international workforce has been touched on in our blog pages before as we have reported on various companies which have taken care to ensure their EAP services are effective in a global marketplace, by making them multi-lingual, for example.

Here, the importance of having staff who have been employed in foreign countries themselves is cited as being a key aspect of running a successful EAP when abroad. As is pointed out in the article, the EAP itself can be staffed by people who have themselves been through the process. Support doesn’t need to be health related, it can be practical or emotional too.

One thing of note is that the EAP provider will ask about the employees G.P. This is to enable the EAP service provider to manage the current or future risk. It is important that that assignees register with a G.P. before they need one. Of course an EAP will provide support without an EAP, but this may be limited until fully registered with a G.P.

UK EAPA chair Eugene Farrell says: “It’s important for companies to realise that their EAP can be of very valuable assistance when employees move overseas for work.

“Many people think the EAP is just there to offer help for health issues, but it can also help people with practical advice too – very important when you’re in a new country.

“I would advise all companies who are thinking of expanding overseas to give some consideration as to how their EAP will also expand too. The ROI from an EAP is likely to be even higher when a company expands abroad, as those involved may well require its services more when they are not in their own country.

“Companies which are going down this path should make sure that the EAP is at the top of the list of advertised benefits to any staff considering taking on the challenge of moving to a new country as part of their job. The EAP really can pay for itself in spades when international shores beckon, provided it is properly equipped to offer a global service.”

Tech news: Life Expert launch shows how a fully integrated EAP service is a great offering for employees

Written by Vicky Mulchinock on . Posted in News

Tech news: Life Expert launch shows how a fully integrated EAP service is a great offering for employees

A highly sophisticated system which integrates EAP and Work/Life services has just been launched in the US.  EAP provider, EAP Expert Inc, has partnered with Mary Brown to launch a new joined-up service called Life Expert.

Life Expert brings together a range of different EAP services in one integrated system which offers video, chat, texting, telephonic support and websites. It allows businesses to share a range of information easily with their staff, including company policies and real-time alerts.

Employees are also able to connect with the human resources department and colleagues through the company directory included in the service.

An article on the launch called it “the next evolution in Work/Life services and fulfilment”.

A previous blog penned for us by Vivup EAP director Tracey Paxton argued that integrated technological solutions were the best way for businesses to ensure their EAP was future-proofed.

UK EAPA chair Eugene Farrell says: “This is the way that EAP should be heading if we are to ensure that these vital services continue to be provided for employees in the future.

“Research shows that although EAP take-up amongst businesses may be high, there are still significant numbers of companies where employees are not engaging as fully with these free services as they might.

“This may well be in part because they are not aware of the free benefits to which they are entitled.

“Solutions such as Life Expert are a great way of ensuring awareness from top to bottom in an organisation that the EAP is available and here to help. By integrating with other useful services, such as inter-departmental communications, systems such as this really help to embed the EAP as part and parcel of the culture of a company. It makes employees feel that accessing their EAP is a normal part of office life – and that is really what we are all aiming for.”

New Virgin Pulse EAP offering goes global

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New Virgin Pulse EAP offering goes global

Engaging employees with their Employee Assistance Programme should be a focus for all businesses which have invested in this service.

In a shrinking global world where companies very often have a presence in more than one country, often several, the challenge for those businesses is how to ensure a standardised EAP offering for all their workforce.

Looking to address this issue of a global workforce, it’s interested to read about the latest offer from Virgin Pulse, which has now announced enhanced EAP services that are multi-lingual.

Following a fresh partnership with EAP provider Workplace Options, a multi-lingual EAP service is now offered to the employer’s staff across the globe.

Additional wellbeing support now includes lifestyle coaching, weight management, quitting smoking advice and stress management.

The company has said the impetus behind its enhanced offering is to engage with employees in “culturally relevant ways” depending on where they are based.

An article about the new service can be read here

UK EAPA chair Eugene Farrell says: “At UK EAPA we are always urging businesses to find ways of boosting employee engagement. That must include staff who are not necessarily all based in one country.

“It’s also worth remembering that in many businesses, employees may also be based ‘far away’ from a central UK base, whether that’s in another country or because they are working remotely.

“Excellent EAP services will be set up so as to include all staff in feeling engaged and aware and able to access their EAP. That’s where technology, apps, integrated websites and other advances can really help bring it home to people that their employment includes these important benefits that are there to care for them and support them when they need them.”

Engaging businesses in health and wellbeing benefits

Written by Vicky Mulchinock on . Posted in News

Engaging businesses in health and wellbeing benefits

When it comes to ‘unseen’ problems, such as mental health, it can be hard for businesses to quantify the effects of investment.

We all know that mental health is increasingly moving up the national agenda with more and more people prepared to admit that they are struggling and ask for help.

But perhaps harder for businesses is to find ways of gauging the effectiveness of their investment in mental health and wellbeing benefits for staff.

However, it’s clear that with 12.8million working days lost in the UK in one year due to stress, depression and anxiety, this is a critical area for employers to focus on.

That’s where the EAP Return on Investment (ROI) calculator launched last year by UK EAPA comes in to play: the calculator is designed to help businesses work out the effectiveness of money spent in this area. And in fact, the benefit of the EAP ROI calculator has been picked up on in a recent article for Personnel Today.

Boosting productivity through health and wellbeing benefits”, powerfully argues how giving employees access to daily benefits offering health and wellbeing support will achieve very positive results on a firm’s productivity.

The article points to the fact that of all the EU countries, the UK has seen the biggest slump in productivity, where once it had the highest output per hour within the union.

Research at Canada Life also showed that, while employees understood wellbeing was important, only one in five thought their employer believed the same.

The article goes on to stress the importance for employers in investing in their staff.

“An ROI calculator was launched last year by the EAP Association for organisations to see for themselves why investing in this service may be judicious,” the article says.

UK EAPA chair Eugene Farrell says: “It’s great to see that the usefulness of our ROI calculator have been picked up on in the HR sector press. When we launched this service, it was with the aim of helping employers see the benefits of their investment in EAP so we are pleased to see that is being recognised.”

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