What's An EAP?

An EAP (Employee Assistance Program) is a service that employers can offer to employees (and sometimes their immediate family) to provide mental health support for issues that may arise in or out of the workplace for employees. Depending on the organisation, it may include access to a counsellor in person or over the phone. Typically there is a hotline available for staff members to call to speak to someone about any issues they may be having. These conversations are confidential, while the employers will know that the service has been used, they will not know who used it, or for what issue.

EAP's were created in the late 1930's to deal with alcoholism and have the value to staff, employers, mental health and productivity inside workplaces was soon made obvious.

EAP's can be contacted to discuss issues inside and outside of the workplace. Things like

Problems at work:

• Problems with performance.
• Relationships between co-workers.
• Bullying and harassment.
• Managing conflict and anger management.
• Adjusting to change in the workplace.
• Career change.
• Managing work related stress.

Personal Issues:

• Anxiety or depression.
• Stress management.
• Grief and loss.
• Midlife and life transition issues.
• Emotional or physical abuse.
• Low self-esteem.
• Substance abuse.
• Gambling problems.
• Anger management.

Family Issues:

• Work-life balance.
• Concerns about children.
• Relationship issues.
• Parenting and step-parenting issues.
• Separation and divorce.
• Financial or legal problems.
• Domestic violence.

Any or all of these things can have an adverse impact on how you are feeling, the EAP's are a great place to go if you are unsure of where to take the first step in chatting to someone about issues you may be facing.
For employers, EAP's are a great resource, team leader, managers or even work mates can refer each other to these services to talk with professionals about issues that might not be easily spoken about in the workplace. Happy and healthy staff always create a more functional and inspiring workplace, so the EAP's can be a part of a health and wellness framework that looks after the most important people in your business.

As an employee, if you have access to a service like this, check to see whether it is available to your immediate family as well. You may wish to speak to an EAP if you need an ear, you may want to give your spouse or kids a chance to speak to someone anonymously and from the comfort of their phone. The EAP will work to identify the issues, help put a plan in place to deal with them and potentially provide ongoing support (depending on the cover that your employer has).

Employee Assistance Programs are a great resource, and when we are upskilling workplaces on best practice for mental health outcomes, it is always fantastic to be able to refer people internally to their EAP while improving their inter-personal skills at the same time.

Keep talking, Keep looking out for each other and as always, Just Be Nice.


For more information or to have the JBNProject come and help your organisation to Just Be Nice, contact us HERE.

*​Photo by Taylor Grote on Unsplash

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