Employee assistance programs are programs initiated within organisations to assist employees in dealing with various concerns in and out of the workplace. They provide assistance for work-related issues as well as help and guidance for personal and family-related problems especially if these problems have a direct and immediate bearing on the employee’s ability to perform at work.
Employee Assistance Program NSW: How They Help
Employee assistance programs do more than just assist employees in navigating their work environments. These programs also:
–equip employees with skills to help improve performance
–help employees assess the reasons behind problems in performance
–help tackle issues like bullying and harassment
–help employees manage stress in and out of work
–deal with difficult customers
–deal with workplace and interpersonal conflicts
–help employees achieve work-life balance
–help employees adjust to change in the workplace
–assist employees in making decisions related to career change
Employee assistance programs may also provide specifically-tailored workshops for different groups of employees. For example, they may conduct seminars on leadership for management-level employees or conflict-resolution for rank and file staff. Employers may also be given the freedom to choose custom programs to address specific issues in the workplace. These programs can be designed to help employees develop skills needed to build better and stronger relationships, teach them how to deal with parenting and family issues, anxiety, grief, loss, among other things that individuals can expect to face over the course of their lives. These programs can also step in to provide support after extraordinary circumstances such as unexpected workplace deaths and other types of trauma.
Types of Delivery
Employee assistance programs can be delivered by in-house counselling and employee management teams. In other cases, employers may work with third-party counselling organisations that either conduct on-site workshops or provide telephone assistance 24/7. Many programs also come with online support for employees in the form of downloadable resources such as questionnaires and eBooks. Depending on the type of program available, these services may also be available to employees’ immediate family members.
Privacy and confidentiality are maintained for every session and information are not shared unless the employee concerned gives his or her consent in writing. In most settings, these counselling sessions are paid for by the employer but most contracts cover only a limited number of sessions. Employees can choose to continue paying for additional sessions out of pocket or under a different type of employee insurance program as they see fit.
Employee assistance programs NSW offer crucial services to help employees perform their best in and out of the workplace. If you are an employee in NSW, check your company policy to see what kind of employee assistance programs are available to you.