Employee assistance programs (EAPs) are best known for their mental health and counseling benefits. What you and your employees may not know is that your EAP also offers a variety of work-life assistance services, as well as specialized support for supervisors and HR professionals. Read on to learn about the valuable benefits of your Wellspring EAP, provided under the WTIA Association Health Plan (AHP), and how they can help you and your employees live and work better.

The Case for EAP

Employee assistance programs are a popular benefit. As of 2019, 79% of employers offered some type of EAP to employees, according to a survey from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). And in the past year and a half, EAPs became more relevant than ever as employees navigated the uncertainty and social isolation of the Covid-19 pandemic. Many workers faced challenges managing work-life balance, between juggling family obligations and their day-to-day job responsibilities, which impacted their personal and professional lives. 

As a result, calls to EAPs and requests for help are rising. What’s more, the nature of those calls is more serious than in the past. The evidence is clear: EAP benefits are necessary to help employees manage life and work stress, and that goes beyond mental health assistance. Employers should promote the benefits of EAP not only to help employees thrive, but also to improve focus and productivity on the job. In addition, employers can benefit from EAPs in a variety of ways, including a happier, more productive workforce; lower health insurance costs; reduced absenteeism and worker’s compensation claims, and higher loyalty and retention rates. Employers can also leverage an EAP to help them gain confidence and support in dealing with difficult employee issues.  

The Most Popular Reasons Employees Use EAP     

Many employees are aware that an EAP offers free, confidential assistance to help them with issues they may be struggling with at home or work. And employees who receive this type of help are generally more likely to have better work performance because they are proactively working on their issues rather than suffering through them alone. 

Some specific concerns EAP counseling can help with include:

• Addiction
• Anxiety/depression
• Domestic abuse
• Family, marriage, and relationship issues
• Financial concerns
• Grief and loss counseling
• Mental health 
• Stress management
• Substance abuse

The Wellspring EAP enables employees and their eligible family members to have up to three face-to-face sessions with a counselor per issue per year. However, this may not be enough to address ongoing mental health needs. Once their EAP visits are complete, employees and their eligible dependents can also receive referrals for ongoing care. At that time, copays and out-of-pocket costs may apply.

Little-Known EAP Benefits

Few employees know that an EAP offers much more than counseling services. Generally, that means they don’t take advantage of EAP benefits as much as they should to help with common life needs. In fact, an EAP offers unique benefits employees may not be able to find anywhere else, including:

Legal services: Employees can consult with an attorney on a variety of legal matters, including estate planning, civil disputes, taxes, criminal charges, immigration and naturalization, legal guardianship and custody, name changes, child support, and more.

Financial services: The Wellspring EAP provides access to financial counselors who can help with credit counseling, tax planning, college funding, charitable giving, business services, debt and budgeting assistance, retirement planning, individual retirement account (IRA) funding, pensions, 401(k)s, estate conservation, etc.

ID theft response: This benefit offers assistance with emergency ID theft response, restoring identity and good credit, steps to dispute fraudulent debts, advice on communicating with creditors and collection agencies, safeguarding information employees choose to share online, and additional services.

Daily living services: A Daily Living consultant can help employees with information, listings, and resources related to home maintenance and repair, travel and relocation, recreation, pet care, dining and entertainment, event planning, volunteering, family activities, and more. With the holidays coming up, many of these services may be especially helpful for your employees.

Childcare and parenting help: Employees can get help finding resources for infants through school-age childcare, back-up childcare, summer camps, education and tutoring, special needs, parenting resources, lactation support, adoption support, and other assistance.

Older adult and eldercare resources: An older adult/eldercare consultant can provide resources and information regarding senior services, housing options, geriatric specialists, transportation services, and more.

In-the-moment support: Employees experiencing distress can call in and get help from a professional, masters-level therapist who can help them create an action plan and provide resources and referrals for additional treatment, if needed.

Wellspring Stress Center: Offers access to stress management tools and other resources to help employees identify their triggers and get stress relief.

Subscriptions: Employees can receive an optional, complimentary subscription to a monthly email to help improve their well-being, as well as a quarterly newsletter and other information to support them in dealing with high-impact, traumatic events that may occur within their community and around the world.

Dedicated employee website: Provides unlimited, 24/7 access to a variety of online tools and information, including EAP benefit information, monthly on-demand webinars, wellness articles, a work-life resource library, online referral requests, instant messaging, and an online orientation. 

Benefits for HR Administrators and Supervisors

The Wellspring EAP not only offers numerous benefits for employees and their family members, but for supervisors and HR administrators as well. Management consultants are available to assist HR administrators and supervisors with promoting EAP benefits, as well as managing issues they may feel unsure about how to handle, such as deteriorating performance, excessive absenteeism, dysfunctional teams, providing difficult feedback, conflict with colleagues, and more. 

Wellspring can also provide referral support for employees managing concerns such as mental health, situational stressors, or substance abuse. They can also conduct employee orientations, on-site grief and trauma counseling, seminars and workshops, and on-site management and organizational development training on topics such as leadership, mediation, executive and employee coaching, team building, change management support, lunch and learns, and more. In addition, HR administrators and supervisors can get access to a dedicated website that offers a variety of tools and information to help make the EAP program a success. More information on these benefits is available here. 

To get assistance promoting your Wellspring EAP benefits, or to learn more about how an EAP can help you and your employees to thrive, even in these uncertain times, contact your broker, visit our medical benefits website, or email WTIA Benefits Program Sales Director Raven Mencias at rmencias@washingtontechnology.org.