Employee Assistance Programme (EAP)EAP: An employee assistance programme by a UK-based provider Wellbeing Solutions Management

An Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) is an employer funded benefit that offers employees confidential counselling and advice on a wide range of work and personal issues.  

It is a core component of an organisation's risk and absence management strategy and a versatile resource for managers and HR professionals.

Why use our Employee Assistance Programme?

Our EAP is different because as well as providing counselling, practical advice and medical guidance through confidential self-referral, we also provide HR managed interventions.  

Our service helps your people, managers and families with day-to-day issues; some of which can be complex and debilitating, resulting in long-term sick leave, presenteeism or a safety risk. Others will want practical, legal or money advice and help from trusted independent experts.

Employees can contact our service 24/7 using the helpline (0800 328 1437), email, web or text, enabling help and advice to be given to your employees when and where they need it. Alternatively, they can get access to our content rich website at www.employeeassistance.org.uk.

Our investment in case handling technology and professional management of a network of over 1,200 counsellors, 1,000 psychologists and 100's of specialist advisors ensures that our systems and service levels are state-of-the-art. Our distinctive support services are all designed to maximise the impact of an E.A.P in your organisation. 

HR and Management Support

Working closely with HR and managers; we provide effective support for employers and employees :

  • Our in-house management telephone advice line, enabling access to best practice management techniques or employment advice.
  • A manager's guide, available either online or in hard copy, which contains the what, how and where of the EAP and Additional Services.
  • Management Referral services, which enable line managers to access a range of specialist expertise that can drastically improve specific workplace problems such as high levels of absenteeism, personal crisis, addiction, violent risk or general poor performance following transition or change.
  • Bespoke customer web portal which enables the HR and management community to access services, information, any customer communication such as MI Reports and external signposting.
  • Employee Online Support with a special section that is written to help support managers
  • Usage & MI reports which help identify organisational trends 
  • EAP Launch & Communication that speaks directly to managers

Employee Online Support

WSM’s powerful and comprehensive Employee Assistance Online website gives employees access to 100s of pages of advice on all sorts of issues including law and rights, work, money, emotional support and family issues.

Where available, we also provide details on many specialist support and advice organisations which are run by leading experts in their fields. 

The website also gives employees another way of getting in touch with our advice and counselling teams.  They can email us about any issue and give a preferred time for one of our counsellors or advisors to call them back.

Our Employee Assistance Online website is included as a standard element on all EAP packages. Please email us for a guest password to enter the full employee support site.

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Counselling

The quality and professionalism of WSM’s counsellors lies at the heart of our EAP's counselling service.  Behind all of our innovative solutions, customer service and exceptional reporting analysis, nothing matters more than the quality and professionalism of our counsellors in supporting employees and their loved ones - day-in-day-out. All of WSM’s counsellors are either BACP or UKCP accredited and meet WSM’s exacting network affiliation criteria of: experience, insurance, accreditation, supervision and suitability of counselling premises.

The counsellors and psychotherapists work to a variety of theoretical approaches, understanding that each person and their issues are unique. These may include:

  • Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)
  • Solution-focused brief therapy
  • Person-centered counselling
  • Psychotherapy / counselling
  • Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP)

 

Practical Advice

Our advice and guidance offered through the EAP covers work-related, personal and family issues.  The EAP can also sign-post employees to specialist services and organisations offering expert, local and free support.  We provide employees with a wide range of comprehensive advice, which includes:

  • Benefits advice
  • Consumer and legal issues
  • Debt counselling and money advice
  • Educational advice and sign-posting
  • Childcare & eldercare information
  • Health support and wellbeing advice
  • Housing and accommodation
  • Human rights, immigration asylum issues
  • Legal advice covering all aspects of law
  • Travel and practical holiday advice

 

Health Advice

As we understand that the health of your organisation is a priority, any concerns an employee has about their health can be addressed through our Medical Advice Service helpline. This early advice and signposting service helps improve the health and wellbeing of employees and can lead to improved productivity. Our OH Nurses can advise on issues such as symptoms and treatments, medication and surgery, inoculations and travel vaccinations.  

Fee-per- session or pre-paid option 

We are unique amongst EAP providers in that we offer all of our EAP customers a choice between a pre-paid (fixed price) contract, or a fee-per session (pay-as-you-go) option.  Approximately 60% of our customers opt for the traditional pre-paid EAP model and 40% choose our sector-leading flexible pay-as-you-go EAP contract.

Fee-per- session EAP Contract

Our fee-per-session contract offers flexibility where demanded by budgets or procedures; you pay only for those counselling and advice sessions actually used by your employees.  A small management fee (of less than £1.00 per employee per annum) covers all launch and ongoing promotional literature, dedicated account management, clinical case management and class leading usage reports.

Pre-paid EAP Contract

Our pre-paid contract provides a fixed price for unlimited access to the service, thereby offering you certainty of costs for effective budget planning.  You pay a fixed subscription fee, which is calculated on the number of employees to be covered and whether you choose the Full or Telephone EAP.  The EAP subscription fee remains constant – irrespective of any higher than average usage by employees. This fixed EAP subscription covers all employee self-referrals.

Either contract option (fee-per-session or pre-paid) can be applied to the Full EAP or Telephone EAP package.

Full Service Employee Assistance Programme

The full service option offers counselling support through either face-to-face or telephone therapy.  Our UK-wide counselling network ensures that your employees can meet with a local counsellor, at a time and place of their choosing. 

Telephone Employee Assistance Programme

The Telephone service option is designed to suit diverse customer requirements and budgets, simply restricting access to counselling via telephone. Telephone counselling can offer greater accessibility in terms of time spent and scheduling. This EAP offers an approximate saving of 20-40% over our Full Service EAP.  Face-to-face counselling is still available, but only after specific authorisation by HR.

EAP Usage and MI Reports

We have developed a unique and powerful usage reporting system, delivering quarterly customised analyses that give you an invaluable picture of how the EAP is used in your organisation. This helps customers identify and respond positively to any trends or hot spots. We call it the Management Information report because it goes beyond statistical analysis and aims to deliver real added value to HR decision makers.

EAP Communications

Carefully planned and implemented for each new customer, our strategy is to maximise the profile of the EAP in your organisation, through delivery of face-to-face manager/employee launch briefing sessions, customised or generic leaflets with detachable wallet cards and EAP handbooks for managers. This is an example of our main EAP poster.

Once your programme is up and running, you will receive themed employee e-posters (per quarter) which help maintain the EAP's profile. Here are some recent examples.