Employee Assistance

Employee Assistance Services

Why an Employee Assistance Program?

Employees are a company's most valuable resource. However, personal and emotional problems can and do effect an employee's ability to perform on a job. These problems affect work performance, morale and ultimately, a company's productivity and profitability. Personal problems result in a high incidence of employee absenteeism, inefficiency and turnover, as well as an increase in accidents and worker compensation claims. This is costly to both the worker and to the employer. An Employee Assistance Program offers a comprehensive means of helping companies and their employees effectively deal with problems. These problems, whether related to alcoholism, drug dependency, marital, family or their personal problems can and are being successfully treated through counseling.

Benefits – The Bottom Line to Increased Productivity

The Washington Business Group on Health recently conducted a survey of 100 major corporations and identified 68 which provided benefits for mental illness, alcoholism, drug abuse and stress. The majority of these companies reported that a direct benefit of their programs was increased employee productivity. Example: General Motors Corporation estimates $3,700 a year was recovered per employee in terms of productivity increased and work-time regained after the company's employee assistance programs were implemented.

Reduced Absenteeism

Experts estimate personal problems underlay 60 percent of all absenteeism. The survey cited above also showed a dramatic reduction in absenteeism for employees who had participated in mental wellness programs. Specifically:

(a) Illinois Bell Telephone found that its alcoholism program returned a savings of $1,142 per employee in wage replacement alone, resulting from decreased sickness and accident disability;
(b) A Michigan Oldsmobile plant saved $233,000 in recovered work time after an alcoholic rehabilitation and drug treatment program was implemented.

Fewer Injuries and Accidents

An industry study reports that personal problems may underlay as many as 80% of industrial accidents. Many companies have found that the accident and injury rate for employees suffering for alcoholism and other personal problems is much higher than the rate of all employees. Workmen’s Compensation claims would be significantly reduced if the accident and injury rate were decreased. The Michigan Oldsmobile plant study, for example, showed that 40% of industrial fatalities and 47% of other industrial injuries can be linked to alcoholism. Statistics such as these have been a major catalyst in prompting private companies to implement employee assistance programs.

Studies throughout the United States and Europe have found that calls for hospital, surgical, and other medical benefits are reduced as much as 20% if mental wellness programs are offered to employees. One massive landmark study found that psychiatrically-treated persons used other medical services only one-third as much as the rest of the population-- and that was five years after treatment. A small California company reported a 35% reduction in other health care costs for patients receiving mental health care. Thus, premiums for your health insurance may be decreased.

We have developed a comprehensive program to aid employers and their employees to receive the most appropriate and effective help. Counseling Associates’ Employee Assistance Program offers:

• To work with employers and unions to develop a coordinated program that focuses on the special needs of individual companies and employers, for assessment, referral, and treatment of their troubled employees.
• To train management, union, and supervisory personnel to recognize the troubled employee and to make the appropriate referral.
• To provide a central diagnostic service to assess and refer the troubled employee for help for personal problems including stress, alcoholism, drug dependency, marital, family, or other emotional problems which interfere with work performance.
• To meet the employee within a 24 hour period. Staff is available on a 24 hour basis for emergency situations.

The Counseling Associates Employee Assistance Program is coordinated with the treatment staff of Counseling Associates to provide quality service. Our treatment staff consists of over 40 professionals. We provide specialists with a range of services from alcohol and drug abuse, individual, marital, family and group psychotherapy with adults, adolescents, and children. We also provide pre-employment psychological testing and evaluations for employee promotion. The staff consists of psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, clinical social workers, certified marriage and registered alcoholism counselors. Because of the size and scope of our staff, we provide services to the troubled employee on a 24 hour a day basis, 7 days a week. Counseling Associates offers its services in a highly professional, ethical, and confidential manner. We are accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (C.A.R.F.) as a mental health and substance abuse clinic, and are licensed by the State of Michigan, Department of Public Health, to provide Substance Abuse Services.

Some of our current and past EAP clients include the following: