Employee Assistance Programmes A Stress Reliever in the Workplace

V.Gurumoorthi
Research Scholar, Department of Social Work
Pondicherry University , Puducherry, India.
R.Nalini
Associate Professor, Department of Social Work
Pondicherry University , Puducherry, India.
Abstract
Work is the inevitable part of life. The nature of work is changing at a whirlwind speed largely due to
technological advancement and globalization. The resultant negative impact on employee well-being
may be personal or work related but the effects stretch beyond the workplace. Unhappiness of
employees affects work pleasure, family relationships and thereby erodes the job performance.
Troubled employees may indulge in unhealthy practices like alcoholism, drug intake, etc. to cope with
their stress. To deal with the stressors and to promote job performance, employee assistance program
(EAP) comes as salvage. EAP is a well established and pre-dominant component of occupational
social work practice. Existing literature confirms that EAP has been emerging as an area of
occupational social work in India and has gained momentum in foreign countries. EAP is not only
dealing with the stress but also dealing with wide range of problems faced by employees. EAP is
designed to alleviate and assist in eliminating variety of workplace problems (Attridge, et al., 2009).
This paper examines the work related stress and the intervention of employee assistance programs in
resolving it.
Keywords: Stress, Occupational social work, EAP, Employee Well-being, Job Performance
INTRODUCTION
The advancement of technology forces the employees to respond to the changing demands and needs
at workplace. Changing working conditions and working environments may cause stress to the
employees that result in increased absenteeism and attrition and thereby it affects productivity. In
recent decades, there has been increasing awareness of the surprising financial losses in corporate,
which have been attributed to such factors as burnout, stress, depression, drug abuse, and high
employee turnover. The sustainability of the organisation is in the hands of the employees. Changing
job nature poses threat to the employees health, which in turn affects the organizational health. The
employees should support for the business success of the organisation and the later needs to support its
employees for their holistic development. The productivity of the organisation is directly proportionate
to the function of health, happiness and overall well-being of its employees. Every business runs on the
same fuel the energy of its people (Deb, 2006).
EAP AN OVERVIEW
According to Sonnenstuhl and Trice, Employee Assistance Programs are job-based programs within a
work organization for the purposes of identifying troubled employees motivating them to resolve
their troubles, and providing access to counselling or treatment for those employees who need these
services. Employee Assistance programs is one of the dimensions of Occupational Social Work
which address the wide range of personal and work related problems of the employees. The concept
has emerged out of Occupational Alcoholism Programs (OAPs) which addressed only the substance
abuse problem of the employees. Some of the key factors that played a pre-dominant role for the
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development of EAP were The Hughes Act, 1970, National Institute on Alcoholism and Alcohol
Abuse (NIAAA), Association of Labour Management and Administrators on Consultation of
Alcoholism (ALMACA), etc. Despite the concept has gained astounding momentum in foreign
countries like US, UK, Australia, Canada, etc., it is still in its infancy stage, as far as India is
concerned. The changing nature of workplace demands the employee to be more competent and to
work well in order to achieve the mission of the organisation. Regardless of the nature of the
workplace, the employee should be free of troubles in order to perform their best. The problems of the
employee will affect the work performance of them and thereby it will affect the organisation and the
community too. Organisation needs to identify the problems of employees and should come forward to
resolve it if they want the employees to give their level best. In this context, the services of employee
assistance program come as a salvage to resolve the issues of the employees. The services are entirely
voluntary and fully confidential in nature. It is a free service to the employees as well as their family
members and the expenses will be borne by the organisations. It is an unknown area of Social Work
Practice in India whereas it is a well known area of Social Work practices in UK USA, etc. The
existing literature confirms the positive growth of EAPs in American organisations. EAPs have been
increased from 6.5% in 1988 to 11.8% in 1990 and in 1994 to 33% and 75 80% of American
organisations are operated EAPs.
STRESS AT WORKPLACE
Negative thoughts, behaviours, feelings in the workplace may manifest anxiety, depression or other
feelings of physical or psychological discomfort. In the workplace, the employees may have difficulty
in: (a) coping with workload, (b) concentration and (c) meeting deadlines that lead to sleep
disturbances, irritability, headache, job dissatisfaction and low morale. Stress is prevalent in modern
society, and can have many negative consequences in the business world including job burnout, ill
health, high staff turnover, absenteeism, low morale and reduced efficiency and performance
(Hanningan, Edward, & Burnard, 2004).
Stress may stem from marital or family relationships, mental health problems, feeling of anxiety and
depression, child and elder care, financial issues, difficulties or conflict on the job (Insights from the
Warren Shepell Research Group, 2002). Job stress occurs when the requirement of job do not match
with the caliber and capabilities of employees. What is stressful to one employee may not be stressful
to others. Some of the instigators of stress are: (i) Heavy work load (ii) infrequent rest breaks (iii) long
work hours and shift work (iv) hectic and routine tasks (v) minimum utilization of workers skills (vi)
lack of participation by workers in the decision making (vii) poor communication in the organisation
(viii) lack of support from coworkers and supervisors (ix) too much responsibility (too many hats to
wear) (x) lack of opportunity for growth, advancement and promotion (NIOSH Working Group,
1999).
COPING WITH STRESS
Employee facing stress resort to addictive behaviours like smoking, abusing drugs and alcohol which
only further complicates the issue. To cope with stress employees indulged in unhealthy activities
which will not only affect their health but also the family, organizational and societal health. Sick
companies produce sick employees, as dysfunctional families produce dysfunctional family members;
sick societies produce sick citizens (Carroll, 1996). Organizational stress will negatively impacts on
employees well being and affect their ability to perform a job. Those effects may be in terms of both
physiological (heart disease and cancer) and psychological such as burnout and depression. One of the
strategies used for stress management includes EAP. EAP assists the employees to manage stress at
work and at home. EAPs are the valuable resource in the organizations as it helps the troubled
employees to overcome the issues faced by them. The organisations need to advertise EAP to its
employees that will help them to gain knowledge about EAP and fully utilize its services.
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EAP is a popular institutional mechanism for promoting health and well-being, (Cooper, Dewey &
O.Driscoll, 2003; Ruiz, 2006; Strazewski, 2005). The rapid growth of EAP has been partly because of
the workplace stress (Coles, 2003). While EAPs are readily affluent in the western countries they are
still rare in other parts of world. EAP has become ubiquitous in the world of work. Employers use
EAPs to show their respect and commitment to employees (Terry, M., & Larry, E. D. 2008)
PROBLEMS DEALT BY AN EAP
EAP is not only dealt with work related problems but also the wide range of problems faced by the
employees be it personal or family issues. Moreover, the beauty is that the EAP services are not only
restricted to employees but includes the immediate family members of them. There are numbers of
problems dealt by an EAP upon which few are: (i) Job stress (ii) anxiety (iii) depression (iv) marital
problems (v) family problems (vi) financial and legal issues (vii) child and elder care (x) workplace
bullying (vii) workplace violence (viii) workplace aggression (ix) absenteeism (x) critical incidents
(xi) life transitions (xii) bereavement (xiii) trauma (xiv) Interpersonal conflict (xv) harassment (xvi)
lack of interest in work (xvii) job performance problem (xviii) lateness for work (xix) managing
change (xx) Health concerns, etc.,
EAP AND WELL-BEING
Heath, fitness and wellness are the three important components for an employee to perform. The WHO
defines health is a state of physical, mental and social well being and not merely the absence of
disease or infirmity. The well-being of the employees is an integral part of the organizational
development and EAP provides the vehicle for linking intervention between individual and
organizational level to address issues related to employee well-being. EAP interventions are
increasingly targeting workplace and workers wellness (Derr & Lindsay, 1999). EAP providers are
now being encouraged to early interventions that encompass health/well being programs that begin
from the perspective of developing strengths inherent within the client and the organisation (Van Den
Bergh, 2000). So EAPs are assisting for the positive workplace culture.
SERVICES OFFERED BY AN EAP
The core service generally provided by an EAP is professional assessment, referral and short term
counselling directed at personal, work related and family problems that might interfere with job
performance or health (Carroll, 1997; Roman & Blum, 1992). Since its inception in the United States
as alcohol rehabilitation programs (Lee & Gray, 1994) EAPs have broadened their scope to provide
service for wide range of problems. The services of EAP are counselling, stress management, critical
incident stress debriefing, trauma debriefing. According to the EAP practitioners in Chennai, the
services of EAP are counselling, wellness coaching, and seminars and workshops based on the need of
the employees and the suggestions of HRs.
CONCLUSION
Thus the concept of OAP is widened as EAP in order to deal with multi various challenges faced by
the employees and their family members and thereby it assists to promote the well-being of them. EAP
helps the employees to live healthy and peaceful life and thereby it benefits the organisation,
employees and their family members.

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