Question: What is employee assistance?

Answer: Employee Assistance is the work organisation's resource that utilises specific core technologies to enhance employee and workplace effectiveness through prevention, identification, and resolution of personal and productivity issues. An employee assistance program (EAP) is a worksite-based program designed to assist (1) work organizations in addressing productivity issues and (2) "employee clients" in identifying and resolving personal concerns, including, but not limited to, health, marital, family, financial, alcohol, drug, legal, emotional, stress, or other personal issues that may affect job performance.

Question: What is EAPA?

Answer: The Employee Assistance Professionals Association (EAPA) is the worlds largest, oldest, and most respected membership organisation for employee assistance professionals.  EAPA’s mission is to promote the highest standards of EA practice and the continuing development of employee assistance professionals, programmes and services.

Question: How do I become an EA professional?

Answer: Fundamentally, employee assistance is the application in the workplace of knowledge about behaviour and behavioural health to improve both personal and workplace productivity and healthy functioning. That means the employee assistance profession is an unique integration of organisation development, behavioural health, human resources, and business management. Most employee assistance professionals have knowledge and experience in a behaviour health field such as psychology, social work or counselling, and some may be drug and alcohol counsellors. EA professionals also enter the profession with backgrounds in human resources and organisational development.  Because the employee assistance profession draws on the knowledge and skills of a variety of professional fields, a lot of  professional development happens through continuing education. Criteria for membership of EAPA Ireland can be found on the application form in the join now area.

Question: What is the EAP Core Technology?

Answer: The employee assistance programme Core Technology (EAP Core Technology) represents the essential components of the employee assistance profession. These components combine to create a unique approach to addressing work organisation productivity issues and "employee client" personal concerns affecting job performance and ability to perform on the job. The EAP Core Technology consists of the following:
1.    Consultation with, training of, and assistance to work organisation leadership (managers, supervisors, and union officials) seeking to manage troubled employees, enhance the work environment, and improve employee job performance;
2.    Active promotion of the availability of EA services to employees, their family members, and the work organisation.
3.    Confidential and timely problem identification/assessment services for employee clients with personal concerns that may affect job performance;
4.    Use of constructive confrontation, motivation, and short-term intervention with employee clients to address problems that affect job performance;
5.    Referral of employee clients for diagnosis, treatment, and assistance, as well as case monitoring and follow-up services;
6.    Assisting work organisations in establishing and maintaining effective relations with treatment and other service providers, and in managing provider contracts;
7.    Consultation to work organisations to encourage availability of and employee access to health benefits covering medical and behavioural problems including, but not limited to, alcoholism, drug abuse, and mental and emotional disorders; and
8.    Evaluation of the effects of EA services on work organisations and individual job performance.
For more information, read the Standards and Guidelines for EAPs and the EAPA Code of Ethics.

Question: What factors should I consider when buying an EAP for my organisation?

Answer: The EAP Buyer's Guide is a best bet for purchasers looking to make informed decisions about selecting or designing an effective Employee Assistance Programme and getting the most for your money. The Guide identifies the essential questions to ask in the purchasing process and offers practical guidelines to help organisations choose the EAP that will support a healthier workforce, maximize employee productivity, and provide the greatest return on investment.

Question: Does EAPA maintain statistics on EAP utilisation?

Answer: We are frequently asked if EAPA maintains statistics on EAP utilisation by industry or company size or for that matter any stats at all on EAP utilisation standards. The utilisation question seems like a simple one, but unfortunately, it isnít simple. For extensive information on this topic read our article on EAP Utilisation.

Question: I have a question about an ethical issue. Who can help me?

Answer: EAPA's Ethics Education Panel of Experts was formed to assess the EA profession's needs in relation to ethics education and to identify and promote educational resources to meet those needs. The Panel is now inviting EAPA members to submit their concerns, questions, or comments related to the ethical practice of Employee Assistance. All concerns will be handled with discretion. Contact the Panel in the contact us area.

ABOUT EAPA MEMBERSHIP

Question: Should I join as an Individual Member, Certified Professional Member, Government Agency Member or Associate Member? What is the difference?

Answer: A Professional Member is an individual currently engaged in employee assistance professional activities, including direct delivery or management of EA services, EA consulting, teaching of EA programming or any of its specialised functions at an accredited college or university, and EA related research. Professional Members may vote and hold office in EAPA at the chapter, branch, and international levels.

An Associate Member is an individual who is associated with or interested in the field of employee assistance, for example; an affiliate provider, vendor, government official, human resources professional, or other individual not directly engaged in an EA role. Associate Members may vote and hold office (other than president) at the chapter level, but may not vote or hold office at the international level.

EAPA also has a Student Member category for individuals who are currently enrolled in a degree-granting programme at a nationally or regionally accredited educational institution. Students must submit evidence of their student status annually, and Student Members may not vote or hold office at the chapter, branch, or international level.

A Certified Professional Member is a Professional Member who is currently a Certified Employee Assistance Professional (CEAP).

A Government Agency Member is an optional category for a governmental unit. Under this membership, the governmental unit receives none of the services/benefits otherwise associated with organisational membership, and instead designates one employee of the unit to receive individual member benefits. The designated employee of a government agency member will have the voting and office holding privileges associated with either the individual professional or associate membership, depending upon whether he/she is currently personally engaged or not engaged in employee assistance professional activities.

ABOUT THE CEAP CREDENTIAL

Question: What is the CEAP Credential?

Answer: The CEAP is the only credential that represents the employee assistance profession and demonstrates ability and mastery of the body of knowledge required for competence in EA practice. The online CEAP Candidate Handbook provides comprehensive information about many aspects of the CEAP credential. It is divided into 6 sections.
    Part I - CEAP Candidate Information - covers certification specifics, advisement, test taking procedures and fees.
    Part II - CEAP Exam Blueprint - provides a detailed description of the CEAP exam content as well as sample exam questions.
    Part III - PDH Approval Information - describes the PDH pre-approval and post-approval process.
    Part IV - CEAP Client Bill of Rights and CEAP Code of Conduct - provides both the CEAP Client Bill of Rights as well as the CEAP Code of Conduct.
    Part V - CEAP Renewal - provides a detailed description of the CEAP renewal process, whether recertifying via PDHs or by retaking the CEAP exam.
    Part VI - CEAP FAQ's - provides FAQ's in 5 different categories including questions about Certification Requirements, Advisement, the CEAP Exam, CEAP Renewal, as well as "How to File a Complaint Against A CEAP".

Question: How do I obtain the Certified Employee Assistance Professional (CEAP) credential?

Answer: There are two options for obtaining the CEAP. What follows is a brief summary of each option:

Track I: For those who do not have a graduate degree in an area that is directly related to EAP work, the requirements are:
•    A minimum of two years and at least 3,000 documented hours of paid employment in an EAP setting of some type earned within 7 years of the date of EACC exam application;
•    A minimum of 60 Professional Development Hours (PDHs) in specified domains: 10, 20, and 30 PDHs in Domains I, II, III, respectively (see the CEAP Candidate Handbook for explanation); all PDHs must have been earned within the three years immediately preceding the exam application date;**
•    A minimum of 24 hours advisement over a minimum 6-month period with a currently certified CEAP advisor; advisements must be acknowledged and approved in advance by EACC;
•    Sit for and pass the CEAP exam.
Track II: For those with a graduate degree in an area that is directly related to EAP work (such as psychology, social work, or counseling), the requirements are:
•    A minimum of two years and at least 2,000 documented hours of paid employment in an EAP setting of some type earned within 7 years of the date of EACC exam application;
•    A minimum of 15 Professional Development Hours (PDHs) in specified domains: 2, 5, and 8 PDHs in Domains I, II, III, respectively (see handbook for explanation); all PDHs must have been earned within the three years immediately preceding the exam application date;**
•    A minimum of 24 hours advisement over a minimum 6-month period with a currently certified CEAP advisor; advisements must be acknowledged and approved in advance by EACC;
•    Sit for and pass the CEAP exam.
if you have any additional questions about the CEAP process, e-mail the Director of Credentialing at certdir@eap-association.org

** CEUs may be submitted with a PDH Post Approval Application for review and approval for PDH credit. 

ABOUT EA PRACTICE

Question: Are EA Programme records the same as medical and mental health records, or are they different? What are the laws for maintenance of EA records?

Answer: Employee Assistance (EA) records normally are not the same as medical and mental health records. Although some EA records may contain medical or mental health information, others (e.g. those related to financial or legal difficulties) do not.

All EA records should comply with the EAPA Standards and Professional Guidelines for Employee Assistance Programmes (available on the EAPA website). The Standard for Record Keeping (Standard II.G.) is this: The employee assistance programme shall create and maintain client records that are consistent with the employee assistance programme service delivery system, organisation policies, programme procedures, and applicable legal requirements.
Compliance with the Record Keeping Standard requires compliance with 9 listed "essential components." They are:
1.    The EAP must maintain retrievable documentation of all direct services and recommendations.
2.    EAP records must be maintained in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations.
3.    EAP records must be maintained for the minimum period of time required by law or organisation policy.
4.    The storage, transfer and destruction of records must be handled in a manner to assure confidentiality.
5.    Every effort must be made by the EAP to prevent the involvement of EAP records in arbitration, litigation, or any other dispute.
6.    EAP records must be kept in a secure location and be available only to authorised EAP personnel. Files or file rooms must be locked and, computerized records must be maintained in a secure environment.
7.    The EAP must make every effort to assure the confidentiality of information sent by mail, fax. modem, E-mail, or other electronic communication technology. A limit of disclosure statement must be included in all transmissions.
8.    Ownership of EAP records must be clearly delineated through policy or contract language.
9.    The content of EAP records must be consistent with the scope of the service delivery system.

    Since companies and programmes operate in such different environments, every company should consult with its own legal counsel to determine what is required for compliance with essential components 2 and 3 above, regarding applicable laws and regulations and length of time that records should be maintained. 

Examples* include:
•    Companies that require that EA records be maintained throughout a client’s term of employment with the company (and/or eligibility for EA services) and for ìxî number of years after eligibility ends.
•    Companies with internal programmes that treat their EA records the same as OSHA records, and keep them for the number of years consistent with those requirements.
•    Companies with external programmes that require EA record retention after a client is seen
•    (* Please note that these are examples only; they are not an exhaustive list of the options, nor are they recommendations.)

Once the determination is made as to how records will be treated and how long they will be maintained, this determination should then be documented clearly in a written EAP Policy statement (see EAPA Standard I.E.) and, as appropriate, in other statements of operating procedures and practices. Information about record-keeping practices also should be included in the Statement of Understanding that EA practitioners provide to every client.

Question: How do I submit an article for the EA Events section of the EAPA web site?

Answer: Contact us at info@eapaireland.ie  



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