What is an EAP?

An Employee Assistance Program (EAP) is an employee benefit, fully funded by the employer and designed to assist your employees to understand and overcome a broad range of life and work issues in order to remain focused and productive when at work.  

The program helps employees find solutions or strategies to return to optimal performance and minimise disruption to the organisation. This program includes a briefing session for your employees and provides a wallet card with the number of the helpline. Access is also available online to many tools and interesting and relevant articles.   

An Employee Assistance Program provides confidential counselling to employees to support their social and psychological well-being in the workplace and their personal lives. It offers initial short-term support and assistance for issues that may impact employees’ work performance, safety, wellbeing, individual and workplace morale, and psychological health.   

Some of these issues may pertain to personal and workplace relationships, health, trauma, substance use or abuse, gambling and other addictions, financial problems, grief, depression and anxiety disorders, mental health issues, communication problems, legal issues and coping with change. 

 The EAP also provides crisis intervention and consultancy services to support employers in their duty of care for their employees. 

Why Provide an EAP?

Employee Assistance Programs help to promote positive organisational behaviour, enhance employee well-being and improve workplace productivity. 

Our EAP services can help improve the stress management and coping mechanisms of your employees. The counselling that Employee Assistance Programs provide allows for a safe and confidential environment where your employees can talk about what is impacting their mental health and wellbeing. 

This allows your employees to discuss and deal with their personal and job-related stress. Their counsellor can equip them with new and better coping mechanisms to manage their stress levels. By addressing their stress-inducing issues and gaining stress management skills, your employees will be happier and healthier, leading to better work productivity and performance.    

When employees are happy and healthy, it improves their focus, concentration, and teamwork, helping the organisation’s performance. Employee Assistance Programs also result in improved employee satisfaction. The cost of counselling is significant and having an EAP as a benefit with free and confidential counselling can make a difference to the employee.  

Employees who use the EAP will feel supported and encouraged, raising employee morale and satisfaction. This can lead to decreased employee turnover.  

What are the benefits of an EAP?

There are many benefits to Australian business in engaging EAP services for your organisation. Not only do EAPs benefit individual employees, but they also result in organisational change that has positive results for your business.  

By providing Employee Assistance Programs, companies can see increased productivity and performance due to the counselling that supports employee wellbeing and mental health. This also improves employee satisfaction, increasing staff morale, employee retention, and making your company a more attractive place to work.   

You’ll see reduced absenteeism, conflict, and occupational stress due to implementing an EAP. This is because employees will have someone to turn to for support when they are facing issues in the workplace and in their personal lives.  

Confidential counselling provides a safe environment for employees to talk about their issues and helps them develop better stress management skills and coping mechanisms.  

EAPs also result in reduced worker’s compensation and other costs and enhance employer-employee relationships.  

Are the sessions confidential?

Confidentiality is a key concern for employees when accessing Employee Assistance Programs, as it is important that they feel safe expressing their concerns and issues without being judged or having it negatively impact on their workplace standing.   

All EAP services are completely confidential and focus on enhancing the individual’s mental health and general wellbeing.  The Employer will know that the EAP has been used, but not by whom. 

How Cost Effective is an EAP?

Employee Assistance Programs are implemented with an expectation that the benefits to the business will include increased productivity, reduced sick leave, healthier and happier workplace relationships and lower staff turnover, all such benefits subsequently leading to increased profitability. 

How can we help?

Employee Matters provides access to a high quality, short-term, professional and fully confidential counselling service for your employees and their immediate family to make use of, to deal with personal and/or work-related issues. The service is available to them 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. 

For more information on how you can implement EAP services in Sydney, Perth, Melbourne, Brisbane or Australia-wide, contact us today via the form below.