New Survey: More Organizations Are Offering Employee Assistance Program (EAP) Services
Mark Sagor
/
For the past 25 years the Families & Work Institute has been tracking the benefits practices, policies and programs of U.S. employers.
Their findings have documented the many ways that employers and employees benefit from flexible and family friendly workplaces. The data demonstrates that in return for providing a more supportive workplace to employees, employers benefit by having “more engaged employees, higher retention and potentially lower health care costs.”
The results of their most recent survey, that included 1126 organizations, tracked the changes in benefits provided between 2005 and 2012 by both small and large employers:
Child Care Resource & Referral Services (access to information to help locate child care in the community) were provided by 61% of large employers (1000 or more employees) and 38% of all employers in 2012 (up from 34% in 2005.)
Elder Care Resource & Referral Services were provided by 58% of large employers and 41% of all employers in 2012 (up from 29% in 2005)
Employee Assistance Program (EAP) Services were provided by 93% of large employers and 74% of all employers in 2012 (up from 46% in 2005)
Seminars on parenting, child development, care of the elderly or work/family problems were provided by 40% of large employers and 20% of all employers in 2012 (down from 21% in 2005)
Supervisor Training on responding to the work-family needs of employees was provided by 52% of large employers and 44% of all employers in 2012 (down from 48% in 2005)
The adoption of Employee Assistance Programs continues to increase because EAPs offer organizations one-stop access to a diverse array of services which support the health, well-being and productivity of employees and their families.
In addition to providing 24/7 access to professional mental health counseling services,
EAPs offer organizations:
- An array of dependent care resource and referral services
An increasing number of organizations are adopting Employee Assistance Programs because they have proven their value to employers who want a comprehensive solution to both assist employees and their families and to support their front-line managers in dealing with the complex problems and challenges of modern life.