A major concern of employers is alarming increases in absence rates due to the growing number of claims for short and long-term illness, disability and family medical leave. Stress, mental health, substance abuse and associated illnesses result in lost productivity. Factors such as mental health conditions, sleep problems, mental health stigma and substance use and abuse affect business performance by reducing productivity and increasing both planned and unplanned absences. Many of these factors are either preventable or modifiable.
Stress is known to affect productivity. Today’s workforce faces many causes of stress including the economy, long commutes, the time and energy required to care for ailing parents or young families and the availability of technologies that blur the line between work and home. Furthermore, conditions such as depression can negatively affect productivity. Two decades of research show that people with depression are at a greater risk for developing heart disease than healthy persons.
Employee Assistance programs (EAP) help employers address a variety of employee programs and proactively can deal with workplace issues that can lead to violence, physical and mental health issues and declining morale among workers. EAP provides preventive services and short-term problem resolution to employees and their families. EAP practitioners also provide services when unexpected events occur, such as natural disasters, accidents, robberies, death, etc.
EAPs represent a first line response to providing prevention, triage and short-term problem resolution services to employees. EAPs aligned with an overall health and productivity strategy can perform a critical role in identifying individual and organizational performance. A well-run EAP will provide a positive return on investment.
Generally speaking, EAPs provide value in three ways:
- EAPs leverage the value of organizations’ investment in its workforce by:
a. Encouraging employee engagement;
b. Improving abilities of employees and dependents to successfully respond to life’s challenges;
c. Offering employees short-term problem-resolution services or referring employees and
dependents to treatment services when indicated;
d. Developing employee and manager competencies in managing workplace stress and
improving work team performance. - EAPs address the costs of doing business by:
a. Reducing workplace absenteeism and unplanned absences;
b. Reducing workplace accidents;
c. Lowering employee turnover and related replacements;
d. Facilitating safe, timely and effective return-to-work for employees after short-term and
extended absences;
e. Reducing medical costs;
f. Increasing efficient use of medical care through early identification, disease management
and recovery efforts. - EAPs mitigate business risks by:
a. Reducing the likelihood of workplace violence or other safety risks;
b. Managing the effect of such disruptive incidents as workplace violence, injury or other crises
and facilitating a swift return-to-work after traumatic workplace events;
c. Supporting disaster and emergency preparedness and minimizing disruption after such
events.