EAP Care, Inc.

Historical Overview

Definition

Over the past several decades, Employee Assistance Programs have dealt with employee problems that affect workplace performance. An EAP is a professional assessment, referral, and/or short-term counseling service offered to employees with alcohol, drug, or mental health problems that may be affecting their jobs. Employees are either self-referred or referred by supervisors. EAP services also include managerial/supervisory consultations, supervisory and union steward training’s, employee orientations, childcare, eldercare, critical incident stress debriefings, and employee education. Eligible clients often include the employees’ family members, including their significant others, and retirees.

History

Employee Assistance Programs evolved out of Occupational Alcoholism Programs (OAPs) which began in the 1940s. OAPs were developed through the efforts of recovering alcoholics and dealt exclusively with alcoholic employees. OAP counselors were recovering alcoholics themselves. They were aware of the denial mechanism utilized by alcoholics, the value of confrontation, and of using the job as leverage in the treatment process in order to get help for an impaired employee.

During the 1970s there was a transition in the OAP field. It became increasingly difficult to justify treating only alcoholic employees. Consequently, the evolution of broader-based programs called Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) began. Unlike OAPs, EAPs treated other maladies such as emotional, family, and marital problems.

In the early 1970s, members of the OAP field formed the Association of Labor Management Administrators and Consultants on Alcoholism (ALMACA). ALMACA began as a non-profit; government supported organization of practitioners involved in occupational alcoholism and employee assistance programming. In 1989, it was renamed the Employee Assistance Professionals Association (EAPA) to signify a broader representation than alcohol programs. This organization, now self-supporting, continues to serve as the professional body for OAP/EAP practitioners. The organization has chapters throughout the United States with approximately 7,000 members, and has many working national committees, which continually address professional issues. There are also chapters in other countries.

In addition, the Employee Assistance Society of North America (EASNA) serves as a professional organization for EAP practitioners and has members from both Canada and the United States. EASNA is considerably smaller than EAPA, with approximately 800 members.

The EAP field expanded in the 1980s as large numbers of employers from Wall Street Corporations, manufacturing plants, and hospitals to small companies and sport teams, became exposed to drugs at the worksheet. The passing of the Drug Free Workplace Act of 1988 encouraged companies to implement EAPs. Today, “90% of Fortune 1,000 companies have instituted an EAP.”

The 1990s brought may new changes to the EAP field. Increasing health care costs accelerated the development of managed care and the reorientation of EAPs towards health benefits. Workforce 2000 brought an expanded emphasis on work-family, cultural diversity, and health promotion programs. Finally, the economic recession and the subsequent downsizing of companies resulted in EAPs becoming expert consultants in critical incident debriefing and violence in the workplace. Recent estimates conclude that there are now approximately “13,000 EAPs in American work organizations, as compared to 5,000 in 1981.”

Contact EAP CARE, Inc and see how an EAP could help your company be more productive. Contact us at 423-899-1993 or email: EAPCAREINC@AOL.COM.