History of Employment Assistance Program (EAP)

Introduction

An Employee Assistance Program (EAP) exists as a work-based intervention platform geared to a problem-solving strategy for individual employees on emotional, social and financial constraints. The program intervenes on personal issues affecting an individual's day to day life including family problems, substance abuse and alcoholism, nervous breakdowns, marital and family problems, as well as economic challenges perceived to have an advance impact on employees' overall performance. Illusionary, human resource management dictates that employees should separate their attributes and professional expectations, but in reality, the level of employee productivity attributes to the effectiveness of workplace systems adopting assistive interventions, necessitating the establishment of Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs). This paper explores the historical background of EAPs, the current trends, and legal regulation of Employee Assistance Programs to evaluate the growth, evolution, and development of employee's work-related interests. It will show the relevance of business organizations integrating EAPs to safeguard their employee's health and psychological well-being.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Historical Background of EAPs

The origin, establishment, development, and growth of Employee Assistance Programs globally in commercial, organizational setup take roots to the 1800s. Attridge (2012) highlights that the creation of the first formal Employee Assistance Programs happened in 1945 immediately after the Second World War in Wilson Banwell Company. The development owed to resolve employees' problems emanating from excessive alcohol consumptions (441). These programs designed by Dr. Robert Wilson of Wilson Banwell dominated in helping employees with troubled alcoholism to deal with issues affecting their work performance due to substance and alcohol dependency. Alcoholism majored in the primary reasons that diminished workers potential and harmony in their jobs. Wilson capitalized on strategies to help alcoholics deal with unproductivity and drinking habits. Adoption of these programs during this initial stage did not receive much assimilation globally; only a few companies necessitated the emerging trend of helping their work-based deal with life issues. A majority of the employers in this era perceived the integration of EAP into their operational systems as expensive and inappropriate lowering its application. The conservative employers felt it inappropriate to indulge in employees personal issues as opposed to the contribution of these issues to employees' productivity.

In the subsequent years, the EAP's scope expanded from dealing with alcoholism to address other individual problems affecting workers' potential and performance levels. In the period between 1978 and 1985, the modern concept of EAP began to take shape diverting the programs focus from alcoholic issues to an encompassed holistic development of an employee. The new model of Employee Assistance Programs slowly took roots in major humanitarian organizations and workplaces as a measure of psychological support to deal with issues ideal for workers' potential. Taylor (2017) shows the Wilson Banwell estimated projection of company employee benefits from the adoption of EAPs. In the projection, the development and growth of EAPs before 1980 took a little effect of below 10% on employee assistive facilitation. The projection reported a dramatic growth at 40% in the grace window between 1980 and 1990. The period between 1991 and the millennium era showed a sophisticated growth and complexity of EAP systems due to the increased social welfare needs of the workers. The majority of organizations tailored custom programs to suit their operation. New programs came up elaborating on improved individual needs and inspirations of the employees to evolve to difficult working conditions due to the advent of technological input in workplaces. The magnitude growth of the employee Assistance programs, Dr. Wilson, attributed it to the revolution and advancement of educational efforts of employers and other assistive service providers. As a result, the number of the organization adopting employee assistance programs increased tremendously during this window. Other growth periods showed charismatic growth in the adoption, establishment, and designs of different companies' worker's welfare plans to maximize production and profitability.

Current Trends in Employee Assistance Programs

Currently, EAPs have advanced to offer employees with more sophisticated assistance including financial services. Employment facilitators come up with different monetary functions to secure the employee's economic strength like providing taxation awareness, loan coaching, credit report reviews, and budget management. Attridge (2012) stipulates that the current state of EAPs is made available to all employees, and their kinship. The current EAP benefits, Taylor states that integrated services and benefits offered to workers and our company managed internally or externally. A modern company is mandated to adopt a combined with core services that require employee training and leadership monitoring, human resource management, family support services, and evaluation of fitness for duty. The emergence of improved trends in workers assistive plans increases their motivational level. Thus, employees register low distractions increasing their active engagement in work-related activities. Companies implementing efficient workers support programs adopt evidence-based approaches to customize EAP delivery based on individual employees' needs and preferences. EAP increases communication tactics that positively leverage on the mitigation of workplace issues affecting workers coexistence.

Legal Regulation of Employee Assistance Programs

The primary facilitator of effective integration of EAPs in small and world-class enterprises is the state. Policy formulators and other governmental agencies play a vital role in drawing the boundaries that govern organizational implementation of the legal standard in employee assistance programs. The state acts as a neutral player to cater for the interests of both the employee and the employer in a working relationship. Compliance to the legal bidding stipulated by legislation varies from organizational structure, size, category, and other governing principles that dictate the company's practices. The principal compliance regulations of EAPs include exemption from ERISA, Health Plan satisfaction, and expected benefits. The compliance in EAPs regulations helps employees to avoid potential drawbacks on the social and economic challenges affecting them. However, there is no universal guideline on the provision of EAPs considered to provide holistic benefits on the employees' welfare and healthcare. In 2015, a proposed EAP regulation stipulated that business organizations must meet at least four proposed expected benefits. These included none significant medical benefits, coordinated health plan, none employee contributions schemes, and cost-sharing plans.

The structuring of Employee Assistive Plans triggers different insurance laws and regulations. The restrictions governing EAPs contrives different strategies on how the employer meets the cost of EAP benefits and the services provided to employees. The fridge benefits portray the humanitarian services factors the regulation of individual's needs and the risk transfer factors.

Conclusion

The backdrop on employee Assistance Programs has a long history of human-work endeavors. An EAP offers to counsel for social and emotional problems affecting the productivity of employees which include drug and substance abuse, depression, mental distortion, stress and other similar health challenges hindering effectiveness. Adoption of exception services through the integration of EAPs ensures that caters to reduce employees' problems and their work fitness enhanced.

Works Cited

Attridge M. (2012) Employee Assistance Programs: Evidence and Current Trends. In: Gatchel R., Schultz I. (eds) Handbook of Occupational Health and Wellness. Handbooks in Health, Work, and Disability. Springer, Boston, MA, p. 441 - 467.

Taylor, T. (2017). About Employee Assistance Programs (EAP): What are EAP benefits and How do they help Employees. The balance.