If there's a workplace thatcould use an employee assistance program, it'd be Mad Men'sSterling Cooper Draper Pryce. The workers in the fictionaladvertising agency openly drink like fish on and off the job andwork in an environment that would make today's HR pros want tocringe.

But while Don Draper might laugh at the idea of calling an EAPfor help with his drinking, millions of American workers have takenadvantage of EAPs since employers began offering them.

In fact, EAPs began life as “Occupational Alcohol Programs” andwere focused on helping employees who were experiencing problemswith alcohol. 

“There was a tremendous surge in hiring after World War II andAmerican companies were making up for lost time and people werebuying stuff,” explains Bill Bowler, senior vice president ofclient services and ESI Employee Assistance Group in Wellsville,N.Y. “But people noticed that they had good competent people butthey had an alcohol issue. And they soon learned it's expensive toterminate and then have to rehire and retrain without having amechanism to help them. Labor unions had a hand in this, aswell.”

Many of today's workers probably think of the EAP as the placewhere people go to complain about their boss or co-workers, or as aplace to talk with someone about their depression and stress. Thetruth is, EAPS—and their missions and their services—have changeddramatically over the past 20 years, and brokers should be preparedto discuss their benefits with potential clients.

EAP services

While EAPs nowadays provide many different services, the corestill centers on providing employee counseling—either through areferral network or in-house staff—with mental health issues, andhelping the work force deal with critical incidents in and out ofthe workplace. 

“The two most common workplace issues are 'I hate my boss' or 'Ihate my job,'” says Marina London, spokesperson for the EmployeeAssistance Program Association. “That's most common. The thirdwould be, 'I hate my co-workers.' People might say they're beingoverworked, but people will tolerate a lot and people will do justabout anything. But if there's stress with co-workers or conflictwith co-workers and the boss, people tolerate that to a point andthen they don't tolerate it anymore.”

EAPs also routinely respond to critical incidents in theworkplace, often times sending out counselors to work withemployees on-site within hours of the incident. There have beenmany examples of critical incidents in the past. Most workers of acertain age remember the “going postal” days. But there are a hostof other incidents that have dramatic emotional and physical impacton a group of workers. 

“The most common one is employee death,” says Jay Sandys,director of clinical services at Corporate Counseling Associates inNew York. “The second most common would be some sort of major eventlike a natural disaster or shooting, something along those lines …Workplace violence comes up, either domestic violence or co-workersfighting.” 

Illustration by Michele Melcher

A growing need

The reason EAPs have expanded their services over the past fewdecades is a direct response to the changing demands of theworkplace. Americans are working longer and harder than ever beforethanks to the economic downtown of 2008. The stagnant economy insubsequent years also has put pressure on workers from outside theoffice as they deal with foreclosures, bankruptcies, a spouse's jobloss or taking care of their parents. 

The benefit of an EAP, for employers, is to keep their employeesproductive as they face those personal and professionalchallenges. 

Studies have shown EAPs help decrease absenteeism, workers'compensation claims, labor disputes and on-the-job accidents aswell as cut costs associated with substance abuse and mental healthissues. They might even help with employee retention. EAPs havebeen gaining more widespread adoption by employers. The EAPA saysthat in 2008—the most current numbers available—65 percent ofemployers offered EAPs to employees, up from 56 percent in1998. 

At the same time, EAP professionals are working to change theperception of EAPs and the services they provide. Job No. 1 ismaking sure people understand the full menu of services offered tothem under the benefit. 

“I had a guy say to me the other day at a health fair, 'Whoa, Ihope I never have to call this number,'” Bowler says. “And I playedalong and said, 'Why wouldn't you call us?' And he said, 'I don'tdo drugs or alcohol and stuff like that.' So I explained to himwhat else we do. He was looking to do a will and I told him you cando that on our website.”

Bowler's anecdote is indicative of how some workers aren't fullyaware of their EAP's services. Here are a few more services fromEAPs have grown to include over the years:

• Management consultation. EAPS are the place togo when a manager needs advice on how to deal with an issue amongemployees. Managers often deal with issues that can range fromunproductivity to tardiness to bad hygiene. EAPS either provideguidance for a manager to address these issues or take on the jobthemselves. It's good service for managers, but no knowing how tohandle some situations leads to their own stress level. 
• Legal services. Some EAPs are providing simplelegal benefits to employees. Though not as robust as slate ofofferings as a group legal plan, EAPs often help with simple legalprocedures such as wills or traffic tickets. 
• Financial advice. Since the economic downturn,many employees have turned to EAPs for financial advice. Industrysources say debt counseling is one on the major topics employeesare searching for information on—especially among young workers.Workers also are facing housing pressures, including foreclosures,or trying to figure out how to overcome a spouse losing a job andits associated income. 
• Work-life services. Some EAPs provideconcierge service, which means doing simple tasks for workers suchas picking up dry cleaning. Other services in this category caninclude pet bereavement and travel services. Many EAPs arepresently helping wemployees not only with childcare, but providingguidance with eldercare issues as the parents of employees areliving longer or outliving their retirement plans and are taking upresidence with their children.
• Wellness. EAP providers are fielding morerequests for education and training on a variety of health issues,including stress management, smoking cessation and nutrition. Someemployers set up gyms or exercise rooms for their employees, andEAPs can recommend trainers or nutritionists to visit theworkplace. 

“When you step back and look at the whole picture, what we'retrying to do here is provide the employee and his or her familywith a solution center,” Bowler says. “Most of these employersdon't want to deal with employees lining up at the HR office withproblems and challenges. They'd rather outsource this to a groupwho does this professionally.” 

Along with the expansion of services offered, it should come asno surprise that employees are using EAPs more as well. There are anumber of reasons for this, but London points to Sept. 11 as amajor reason why.

“When 9/11 happened, it became OK for people to get counselingbecause so many were traumatized,” London says. 

There's also the wrong perception that management tracks knowwhich employees use EAPs, and makes personnel decisions based onwhat the employees tell counselors. That's false. EAPs are coveredunder HIPAA, so the sessions are kept private, so employees canfeel free to use the benefit without fear. 

Sandys, who studied changes in EAPS since 1993 as part of hisdissertation at New York University, says the EAP industry itselfhas gone through lots of change since 1993. Some EAPs have beenpurchased by managed behavioral health providers. One of the largerand more respected EAPs, Harris Rothenberg International, wasrecently purchased by Humana. As large managed behavioral healthplans have merged or acquired EAPs, Sandys says, prices for EAPshave decreased.  

Brokers should take time to learn an EAP's services and matchthem to their client's needs in order to be successful when itcomes to signing up new clients.   

“It's about understanding what the needs of the clientorganization are,” says Mitchell Best, CEO of Physician WellnessServices. “It's very granular. It's about aligning with a specificclient and knowing what their priorities and their challenges arewith their employees.” 

Nathan Solheim is a Denver-area writer. He can be reached [email protected].