Implementing employee assistance programsintroduction when the average employee hears the words employee assistance programs, he may immediately think of medical benefits. There are several parts to the vehicle called employee assistance programs, or eaps. Employee assistance programs are defined by myers as structured programs that utilize technical, administrative, and professional human services and personnel people, on either a contractual or employment basis, to meet the needs of troubled employees 4. Eaps are needed so that the work environment is safe and productivity is as high as possible. It is important to define who the troubled employee is, how the eaps are to be structured, and how it is that the troubled employee is helped through the structured programs.

As those three areas are discussed, some of the statistics that make these eaps necessary, or at the very least, helpful, will be looked at also. The troubled employeemany of us have seen gus hes the one who believes that in order to ease the hang over from last nights party, he has to have a drink the next morning but it may not stop there. Whatever he does on his lunch is his business so he may go home and have a couple of beers before returning to his job at the factory.

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Gus probably has a problem with alcohol, as do 6 to 10 percent of the employee population myers 5. In any situation, this could become quite costly if there were an accident on the job. There are the obvious medical bills, workers compensation, destroyed or otherwise broken machinery, and the cost of training new employees.

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Sharon comes into the office every morning at least 10 minutes late and when she does, shes pretty irritated. Around , she leaves for a coffee break and returns with a silly smile on her face, an odd smell on her clothing and a dire need for cupcakes. After a little investigating, it is found out that sharon smokes marijuana during her lunches and her breaks.

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She writes all of the checks for the store, sends out payroll and does all of the general bookkeeping. This could become a costly problem for her employer if the situation is not rectified. Recreational drug users like sharon typically steal time from their employers to help support their drug habits. They use more sick days, are more likely to file workers compensation claims and are 1/3 less productive than other workers cascio 588. In sharons case, the cost can run higher simply because of the nature of her position. If sharon transposed numbers on checks, forgot to write a check or forgot to log a check into the bookkeeping system, she could end up costing her company much more than time.

Employee theft ranges from cheating the employer out of time and office supplies to stealing money. Sharon, if given the inkling, could rework the bookkeeping where she works so that she could embezzle money. However, employee theft is cause for concern because it is estimated that white collar crime in this area alone cost businesses $100 million dollars annually myers 7. There may be personal reasons behind why an employee would steal from his employer. He may be inclined to take work materials from his job in order to do some things on the side, or even sell the merchandise he stole for extra money. If sharon is having problems with child care or home responsibilities, her work performance may be significantly affected.

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Studies show that this type of stress on a woman in the workforce contribute to the high rate of alcoholism among working women myers 7. It is suspected that this stress contributes to higher rates of drug use as well. Also on the list of troubles are gambling, legal problems, violence and mental illness. Of that number, 6 percent six million people have a problem with compulsive gambling myers 6. On the job violence may be the effect of any number of stressors on an employee who feels there is no other way to vent his frustration. There could be any number of reasons, previously stated and otherwise, that might precipitate legal problems also.

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Legal problems and gambling debts are two additional stressors that an otherwise outstanding employee may have to tackle, causing him to be violent or in some other way troubled. An employee may have other issues that may not be as obviously dangerous and alcoholism or violence. It is estimated that employers lose approximately $17 billion dollars per year due to the 35 percent of the workforce experiencing some type of emotional dysfunction myers 8. It is also estimated that us companies spend 26 percent of their earnings on health care costs cascio 590. Heart disease, smoking, and other unhealthy lifestyle attributes cost employers billions of dollars every year. Employee assistance program models now that the troubled employee has been identified, a program needs to be put in place to assist him.

Although it is believed, according to the statistics mentioned earlier, that these kinds of problems occur in a large percentage of workplaces, a good personnel manager will want to create realistic goals for the company. Then he will want to find out what the employees want and need before he began to put together a plan of action. Next, he will want to actually create the eap according to a model that works best for the company. Then, he will teach managers and supervisors how to do their part in assisting the employee. This includes a referral system so that when an employee is found to be in some type of trouble, he can be assisted as soon as possible.

Once the players are in place to help, an open system of communication must be created and fostered so employees know that there is a place where they can go for help. In order to create realistic goals, the personnel manager may need to look outside of the company and find out what other companies in the same industry of comparable size are doing in these areas kizer 42. He may start broad, focusing on the general problems in america on the wellness and eap issues. He should then begin to focus locally on other companies in the area combating the same type of issues and discuss the possibility of a consortium type of program, if one exists. Here is where the personnel manager would learn more about the product he is about to sell. The best way to assess the employees may be described as an internal marketing plan. The personnel manager should begin to think like a marketing man example of essay or term paper on employee assistance programs this being the day of the great downsize many managers are hurrying to make the cut's and in doing so closely examining their employee assistance programs for effectiveness.

What are they? how do they help? how do they work? by definition employee assistance programs eap's give a business the means for identifying employees whose job performance is negatively affected by personal problems. Eap's should arrange for structured assistance to solve those problems with the goal of reestablishing the employee's job performance. Three ways they help the employer and the employee: first, eap's should help in identifying a troubled worker. The two largest problems in the workplace today are drug/alcohol abuse and the stressful effects of downsizing. Many researchers today believe that drug/alcohol abuse is responsible for most modern day eap's. According to the national council on alcoholism and drug dependance, 25 percent of all hospitalized patients have alcohol related problems.

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Alcohol is involved in 47 percent of all industrial accidents and half of all auto fatalities. The cost totals 86 billion dollars per year due to decreased productivity, treatment programs, accidents, crime and law enforcement. Although it is most costly at the top alcoholism/drug abuse affects employees at every level of an organization. One company found that in the pervious five years each worker with an alcohol/drug related problem missed 113 days of work and filed $23,0 more in medical claims than the average employee. However, recovered alcohol/drug abusers will frequently credit their eap for literally saving their lives. By reclaiming highly experienced employees the company also can recover some of their losses.