An Employee Assistance Programme or EAP, is essentially an employee benefit, one that you as an employee doesn’t get taxed on (yet) and your organisation can deduct it from their income tax free (at the moment). The UK government currently recommend that organisation make use of EAPs.
What does an EAP do?
Generally speaking, an EAP provide an organisations workforce with access to confidential assessments for work related issues impacting job performance, physical and emotional health. In most cases the service will offer employees a defined number of counselling sessions either by phone or face to face. Usually the therapy offered is short-term. Sometimes an EAP will feedback anonymous data back to your employer to support the identification of workplace issues.
What does an EAP cost my employer?
The cost of EAPs vary depending on the level of service required and the number of employees but will usually be based on the rate of take up. Normally it will be a specific £ per employee per annum plus additional ad-hoc costs. A telephone only service might cost £2-£3 per employee per annum. The average cost for a comprehensive EAP is £14 per employee (source: employeebenefits.co.uk).
What is the benefit to employers of an EAP?
The benefit to employers is that in theory employees are supported in the workplace and therefore continue to be productive. A Court of Appeal ruling in 2002 stated that an EAP could protect an employer from employees’ stress claims, but this was clarified in 2007 when judges stated that employers need to do more than simply offer an EAP.
