Employee Assistance Programs

Employee assistance programs (EAPs) are a benefit provided by employers to give employees access to confidential assistance to address personal issues, preferably before they affect job performance. When personal problems do affect job performance, EAPs may coach supervisors to effectively support employees as they address those problems, seek and receive counseling or treatment, and return to work.

Employers increasingly turned to EAPs in the 1970s to help employees cope with problems that were adversely affecting job performance and/or conduct. Performance-based interventions to address the individual and organizational costs of substance abuse were widely adopted. Gradually, the EAP's role has expanded to include a variety of support services, including counseling in most work/life issues, as well as conflict and crisis management. Most EAP programs also provide services ...