What are employee assistant programs?
Employee assistance programs, or EAPs, are forms of organized support to help employees when they require assistance with personal issues. With the help of an EAP, employees may be more likely to find a balance between home and work.
For example, EAPs may help offer solutions towards:
How an employee assistance program can help with eldercare
Eldercare can be a complex issue. An EAP can help your employee get the help they need. For example, if an employee’s parent has a stroke, they can call the EAP right away to get immediate assistance. The employee assistance program can help communicate the issue with the employer so that the worker is able to take time off more easily.
The employee assistance program can also help guide your employees through what type of help they may need by putting them in touch with a social worker. For example, does the employee have benefits that could assist in paying for such things as physiotherapy, personal support workers or nursing care?
Before a plan can be made, the social worker and employee get to know exactly what is covered under their employee benefits program. If forming your own EAP with eldercare in mind, consider the following potential benefits to offer:
- Flexibility: Employees might need time off or different working hours when dealing with eldercare. By allowing workers to set their own hours or to have unlimited personal days, they can care for their parents without worrying about their jobs.
- Extended employee benefits: Allowing employees to use their benefits on the extended family, such as for a parent, can help offset some of the costs that are associated with eldercare. This would mean that when meeting with the social worker from the employee assistance program, your worker would be able to set up more help right away.
- Respite care: Some employee assistance programs have respite care as part of their options, which can be essential for those dealing with eldercare. It can be mentally and emotionally draining to be taking care of an elder, so offering respite as part of the employee benefits within the EAP can be an excellent way to allow your workers to rest when at home.
- Support groups: When going through something difficult, like taking care of an elderly parent, it can be helpful to have others going through the same thing to talk to. When your EAP also offers support groups, it can be incredibly helpful for the workers dealing with eldercare.
Why employee assistance programs are important
The following are reasons why having an EAP that includes eldercare can be important:
- Boosting productivity through good morale: If an employee has to deal with eldercare issues when not at work, they are likely to have a hard time staying enthusiastic about work. By having a robust employee assistance program, you can boost the morale of those workers and potentially see productivity improve.
- Increasing employee retention rate: Including eldercare in your EAP is something workers may see as essential. When you provide good employee benefits, you may keep good employees for longer.
- Providing employees with financial support: If the employee assistance program includes things such as personal support workers or nursing care, your employees may feel financially supported. This financial support can mean the difference between having in-home care and a nursing home when talking about elder care.
- Avoiding absenteeism: Avoiding absenteeism can be especially important for workers dealing with eldercare, as appointments their parents have may be during regular working hours. Having an employee assistance program that takes this fact into account can make it easier for employees to balance their work and life commitments.
Employee assistance programs (EAPs) may support workers facing eldercare challenges by providing immediate guidance, flexible benefits, respite care and support groups. This can boost morale, productivity, retention and work-life balance while reducing absenteeism and financial strain.
