An employee’s mental health condition is often difficult to recognize given the general lack of physical or visual symptoms.

In fact, these types of conditions generally are first noticed only when an employee has a problem focusing and productivity suffers. This scenario can be problematic for employers who are unsure how to offer support to an employee who continues working while experiencing mental health conditions.

Many employers know that they should reach out to their employee to offer assistance in these situations, but often don’t know where to start. When looking for help, clients may call you for advice on how to best handle these situations at work.

The next time this situation arises, be sure to highlight the natural partnership that exists between a disability carrier and your client’s employee assistance program (EAP). In particular, three simple steps can go a long way toward helping your client connect an employee working through a mental health condition with the assistance they need.

1. Connect Disability Carriers with EAP Vendors
   

Are your clients aware that their disability carriers have resources and experts who can look at their workforce holistically and provide a program-level approach to addressing health issues, such as mental health conditions? As part of this model, consultants from a disability carrier can provide individualized support and connect an employee with available employer-sponsored benefits — such as an EAP.

One undercommunicated benefit of an EAP is that three to six visits for treatment are often covered by this service for assistance with concerns such as job stress, family issues, alcohol and substance abuse.