The ultimate guide to employee assistance programs (EAPs)

Guide Summary

Today’s multigenerational workforce expects employers to provide essential health and wellness support It’s no surprise that more Canadian companies (77%) are investing in employee well-being for the short and long term.

While 46% of those companies will be prioritizing mental health and wellness programs, others cite digital wellness services like virtual healthcare (29%) and financial wellness programs (26%) as their key areas of focus¹.

Employee assistance programs (EAPs) are a great way for HR and business leaders to address a variety of wellness needs through a single employee benefit.

Download the free ebook (PDF) version of the ultimate guide to Employee Assistance Programs (EAP).

01 What is an EAP or EFAP?

Often part of a larger corporate wellness plan, an EAP is a benefit program funded and implemented by employers or plan sponsors to help their employees or members navigate personal and work-related difficulties.

Most EAPs - also known as EFAPs (employee and family assistance programs), MAPs (member assistance programs), or SAPs (student assistance programs) – provide access to short-term clinical or professional consultations, health risk assessments, or other work-life (legal, financial, etc.) and wellness services.

Through these services, workplace or personal challenges that risk an employee’s health, well-being, or job performance can be better understood, managed, and often resolved.

90% of employees agree that organizations have a responsibility to provide support to help improve well-being. And over 80% report better job satisfaction when their workplace has a wellness culture. They also report feeling more productive, more supported, and more likely to stay with the organization.

02 Types of services offered through EAPs

Different EAPs offer different services, but most are designed to provide free access to counselling or support in one or more distinct areas:

Mental health

70-80% of EAP usage is mental health related².

Family &
relationships

May include child or elder care support

Work & career

Career counselling can help improve employee job satisfaction

Financial
& legal

39% of employees cite personal finances as their largest source of daily stress³.

Substance use

Often includes counselling by mental health therapists.

Workplace referrals

Enables people managers to actively support their members.

Crisis
management
or critical
incident support

EAP providers typically deliver these services through an external network of professionals or agencies.

03 What issues can be addressed with an EAP?

The range of issues addressed by a well-rounded EAP can be broad, encompassing everything from job stress, to addiction, harassment, and family violence.

A comprehensive EAP might include support, advice, or assistance around:

Stress management
Grief, abuse, depression, anxiety, and anxiety
Conflict resolution and domestic violence
Separation, divorce, parenting, and family planning
Child care, child behaviour, and elder care support
Career planning
Family, civil, criminal, and property law
Investments, debt management, mortgages, insurance, and taxes
Individual or workplace crises
Substance use and addiction
Workplace issues through employer referrals

While some EAP providers offer assistance in specialized areas like dealing with disabilities or chronic illness, others make self-help tools and self-service resources available specifically to help managers support their employees.

04 Existing EAP models

EAPs are largely differentiated by their market positioning (quality, affordability, expertise, use of technology) and key program offerings.

Most traditional EAPs deliver their programs with the help of a referral network and some on-site service, but many still rely on a 1-800 number and call centre model. Those that have enhanced or eliminated the call centre option generally offer a mobile app or dedicated website log-in.

EAP practices typically include:

Collecting the necessary information from the member making contact
Identifying the nature of the difficulty they’re experiencing
Offering an appointment time within 3–5 days, and
Scheduling the first appointment – in about 80% of cases – during the initial call

For offline appointments, members usually receive a call-back from the provider within 24–48 hours to schedule their first appointment.

In either case, however, consultations are typically short-term (3-6 sessions) and may be delivered by phone, in-person, or virtually using video or online chat. Program services are generally accessible by employees and their immediate families.

05 What to expect from an employee assistance program

If you’re new to EAPs – or you’re thinking of overhauling your current plan – here are a few of the benefits and challenges that HR, business, and group plan leaders tend to experience when adopting an employee assistance program.

Benefits

Benefits for employers, people leaders, and plan sponsors

Perhaps one of the biggest benefits of the EAP is that it can both aid and inform on the health of your organization.

While providing your workforce with crucial assistance from specialists in various fields, EAPs also benefit the managers who must support employees dealing with everything from workplace conflict to mental health issues.

A good assistance program helps ensure that your employees’ personal difficulties don’t compromise productivity at work.

A well-utilized program has the potential to reduce both absenteeism and presenteeism. This is foundational to the type of wellness culture that fosters employee attraction, retention, and job satisfaction.

Benefits for employees and other member

Free, confidential access to short-term counselling for a variety of issues usually tops the list of benefits for EAP users. Without having to alert you or their colleagues, employees can receive the guidance they need to deal with confusing, uncomfortable, or painful situations.

By providing quick access to expert advice and counselling, EAPs have the potential to serve as the go-to solution for employees in crisis or for those who simply need help navigating a new or unexpected life situation.

Moreover, assistance programs can help employees feel more engaged at work and happier at home – without the worry of having to pay for professional services.

Challenges

Challenges experienced by employers, people leaders, and plan sponsors

Employers value EAPs for their capacity to provide prompt support to employees in crisis, serve as a core mental health counselling service, and offer integrated financial and legal support. But there are a number of pain points for which organizations are demanding solutions.

Current challenges include:

Confusing, overlapping offerings, with multiple providers offering similar services
Lack of data visibility needed to determine program impact, value, and ROI
Difficulty accessing qualified mental health professionals in a timely manner
Difficulty promoting engagement with EAPs in the workplace – many of which suffer from stigmas attached to certain services

Program promotion often falls squarely and unaided on the shoulders of overworked HR teams, with most engaged mental health programs, for example, requiring consistent and ongoing endorsement and communication.

Overall, program satisfaction levels have traditionally been variable, with many EAPs sadly underused (the approximate usage in Canada has been gauged at just 13%⁴). It’s also not uncommon for usage rate calculations that confuse utilization (number of cases) with penetration (number of unique individuals accessing a service) to lead to billing frustration.

Challenges experienced by employees and other members

Poor health is more likely in employees and plan members who feel their benefit plan does not meet their needs⁵.

Some common member challenges include:

An outdated user experience

Poor usability is frequently the result of 1-800 numbers that link members to generic or insufficiently staffed call centres, service brochures that haven’t been kept up to date, or websites and apps that aren’t user-friendly.
Poor or slow accessibility to service appointments

This is often due to a lack of practitioner availability and the absence of follow-up from 3rd party providers. Because many EAP providers use a network of external professionals, accessibility can vary quite a bit and wait times for first or follow-up appointments can be as long as 1–2 weeks.
Short-term care, with no continuity

Once the limited number of sessions made available by most EAPs run out, the patient must often find a new provider on their own and start the process all over. There’s no continuity between services because intake notes are not cascaded to the treating provider, and there’s no transfer of history when counsellors are changed.

Many HR leaders believe that traditional EAPs are their organization's primary mental health program. However, they are often unaware that the out-referral process lacks customization and follow-up. This issue trickles down to the employee, leaving them frustrated when they receive just 3 sessions for their anxiety or depression, followed by a goodbye.

06 The need for a more innovative EAP solution

Although EAPs have been around for decades and are clearly essential, there’s a lot of room for improvement. Many solutions haven’t evolved at all – yet organizations and cultural expectations have.

The growing demands of our fast-paced, competitive work environment have taken an increasing toll on our physical and emotional health, while putting added strain on our relationships. New societal norms and expectations, meanwhile, increase our daily dose of stress, leaving many of us overextended financially.

According to Mercer Canada⁶, “New ways of working have challenged the employee experience and organizations must invest in and prioritize elements [ . . .] that will enable flexibility and an effective transition to the new normal, especially for critical talent and key roles. A compelling employee experience will serve as the differentiator between organizations that maintain productivity with thriving employees (even during times of uncertainty) and those that are challenged to maintain performance.”

As health and wellness continue to be a top priority for organizations, it's critical that we simplify access to important tools like EAPs, make it easy for people to get the support they need, when they need it, and adopt an enlightened care model - one that’s based on accompanying the patient through their support journey, rather than relying on them to “own” their own needs and care plan.

07 What does the ‘EAP of the future’ look like?

Navigating an EAP’s legacy services can be a process-heavy and time-consuming effort, creating barriers for people who are in immediate need of help. Wait times to seek help with current solutions, meanwhile, are notoriously long, reducing their effectiveness⁷.

The need for a more unified, streamlined, innovative EAP is clear – one that:

Delivers services quickly and reliably
Provides opportunities for continued care with extended sessions and seamless referrals
Focuses on support and service flow, rather than just gamification tech

With the future in mind, Dialogue has designed a forward-focused EAP that couples essential program requirements - including quality practitioners and a full suite of free and confidential services – with single-point access to the employee well-being offerings that matter most.

This visionary hub was created to meet the growing needs of holistic care with:

Quick, virtual access to practitioners across multiple disciplines, including mental health, financial, legal, career, relationship counselling, substance use, and crisis management
Appointment self-booking and guaranteed appointments within 24 hours
A more personalized experience, with 100% follow-up for continuity of care and the option to continue with the same counsellor beyond included sessions
A simplified workplace referral process that empowers people managers to help employees receive the support they need

By reimagining the EAP, Dialogue is helping business leaders and their teams stay poised for wellness success.

08 What to look for in an EAP provider

With so many programs designed to drive health outcomes, how can you identify the right EAP for your organization?

Engaging with a professional service of any kind requires some investigation. To kick-start your search, consider these key characteristics of a successful EAP:

Provides easy, responsive, centralized access to wellness services and support
Promotes utilization and delivers high member satisfaction
Offers full continuity of care
Includes a quality review process and transparent reporting that provides real insight on program KPIs
Is supported by a member-centric provider willing to take feedback from employees and clients, and use it to constantly change, grow, and improve their services

Given the challenges frequently experienced by EAP users, it’s worth looking for a program that ramps up convenience by providing a single gateway to integrated health and wellness support via a secure, user-friendly app.

Ideally, that offering will be enhanced by same-day appointments, immediate, round-the-clock access to emergency counselling, and a proactive approach to follow-ups.

You may also want to consider the availability of tools, resources, and virtual counselling for managers while looking for:

A robust onboarding process and awareness program
Automated member eligibility
A dedicated account manager and customer success team

Bear in mind, too, that choosing a forward-thinking provider with an ecosystem of services for health and wellness (like telemedicine, for example) will result in a more comprehensive, more holistic offering that goes well beyond the standard EAP model.

With all that in mind, here are a few specific questions to ask potential EAP service providers:

What is your program model – how exactly would you provide services to our employees (e.g. what is the process before an employee can speak with a counsellor)?
What is your scope of services?
What is the turnaround time for employees to access short-term counselling?
How do you ensure cases are picked up by affiliate providers?
How do you handle mental health cases requiring care beyond the short term?
What is the ratio of psychotherapists in your network?
Do you offer assistance with pushing promotional services or program training out to our employees?
Do you provide a follow-up, feedback, or utilization review service?
How do you measure employee satisfaction and collect feedback on the employee experience?
What percentage of unique users do you see per year, on average?

Discover the top 24 questions to ask your EAP provider. Download the checklist

If you’re considering a plan redesign, you’ll create greater value overall by doing away with assumptions and asking members directly what’s most important to them in an EAP program.

09 The role of technology

Technology is an important consideration when choosing a program partner. Many traditional EAP providers are archaic. Having to use a 1-800 number to get in touch with program resources creates a poor experience and a barrier to care.

Moreover, when programs aren’t digital, plan members must literally find a brochure or ask their plan sponsor for information – potentially breaking confidentiality in the process.

Looking for EAPs that take advantage of technology to deliver an integrated user experience, and seamless online communications can do away with all that.

Technology has enabled Dialogue to implement an automated screening process that is highly efficient. Most EAPs rely on a brief phone conversation⁸ for intake and do not use a validated screening tool. Dialogue also offers a mobile-first EAP solution with a modern and user-friendly app that quickly connects members with the right professional to avoid:

Lengthy calls, transfers, and call-back wait time windows
Impersonal care
Unhelpful resource directories

According to Mélina Lamarche at Beneva, “Virtual healthcare is expanding and rightly so. It provides personalized medical support anytime, anywhere. The financial benefits are significant, and employees are very interested⁹.”

The use of digital devices and online apps for personal health purposes in Canada has risen from 32% to 53% since 2015¹⁰.

And given that 77% of plan members say they’re willing to use virtual care technology to receive healthcare services¹¹, it’s not surprising that several benefit providers have begun partnerships with virtual care suppliers.

10 How to implement an EAP

Employees are often confused by what’s offered or included in their company’s EAP program – if, indeed, they’re aware they have access to such a program at all.

As a business leader or HR professional, you already know how much work it takes to drive organizational change. So what’s the best way to make sure your employees know about your EAP, understand how to access it, and appreciate all the ways it can help them?

Recognize that an effective implementation strategy increases user adoption. Choose an EAP provider whose engagement initiatives help stimulate utilization and generate a high ROI. Dialogue’s member engagement toolkit, for example, was created specifically to boost awareness and share the many benefits of employee assistance services. It ensures you’ll have all the resources you need to promote your new EAP.
Aim for a successful onboarding process. Ideally, this process should be simple, efficient, customized to your needs, and supported by your provider every step of the way.
Make sure an effective communication platform is in place before, during, and beyond the initial rollout of your EAP program. The most effective way to prevent a lack of visibility on the tools and solutions available to plan members is through regular communication – whether it takes the form of customized emails, webinars, or ongoing educational content.

A good provider will not only assist you in getting your new EAP up and running quickly. They’ll also work with you over the long term to provide assistance, training, follow-ups, and evaluations that will help build awareness and trust in your program.

11 Evaluating the impact of an EAP

It’s one thing to implement an EAP, but you should also be able to show it’s making a positive impact on your organization.

Although research supports the fact that EAPs do create positive workplace outcomes in terms of cost savings, employee engagement and life satisfaction, and improved mental health, results can vary with usage. Ongoing monitoring and periodic evaluations are critical to ensure the needs of both employer and employee are being met.

Some key results you should be measuring include:

Program penetration rate (how many individuals is your program impacting?)
Financial return-on-investment
Changes in absenteeism (gauged by attendance) and presenteeism (gauged by productivity)

One of the best ways to assess impact and outcomes is through cost-benefit analyses and by working with an EAP provider who offers detailed reporting and insights.

Transparent reporting is key

HR leaders often complain that the reporting traditional EAPs offer – especially in terms of evaluating the impact of their programs – isn’t clear or relevant enough.

That’s why Dialogue provides regular, in-depth engagement reports that employ simple charts, graphs, and bold-face type to highlight the numbers that are most important to clients, including:

Member eligibility
Total consults
Registration (both member and family)
Utilization
Average time saved
Satisfaction and Net Promoter Scores (NPS)

Dialogue’s reports also break utilization down by demographics and member location.

Follow up with plan members

Transparent reporting is essential for quantifying real program usage, drop-off, and satisfaction. But it’s equally important to flesh out those numbers with information from actual EAP users.

Make sure you ask your employees or plan members for feedback from time to time by sending out regular surveys or holding monthly or quarterly team meetings.

This will give you a better sense of:

Why employees are, or are not, using the services offered
Which services hold the most value for them
The overall level of satisfaction with your program

While many organizations tend to focus on dollars – or ROI - it’s just as important to consider VOI (value of investment).

In the case of your EAP, this should include scrutinizing the broader impact of your program on core priorities like improved employee morale, attraction, and retention, as well as greater member loyalty.

12 Trends in EAPs

It’s clear that organizations are looking for EAPs to combine an integrated, proactive scope of practice with better access and quality in terms of service delivery. As a result, there’s a trend within the current EAP market toward modernization, broader offerings, and improved promotion - but with little impact delivered to date.

Although global players may struggle to enter the Canadian market due to French language requirements, Dialogue has responded to evolving needs with an EAP designed to offer enhanced options like:

Push notifications and engagement communications promoting the service to employees
A scientific screening program for stress and mental health issues
Access to preventative coaching

40% of plan sponsors cite “more services to prevent illness” as the most important thing they’d like to see to improve their health benefit plans12. And as Ryan Weiss from Canada Life explains it, “We’ve found that people are really interested in learning about their risks for future health issues, and what to do about that, and plan sponsors see real value in helping their members be proactive about reducing these risks¹³.”

The trending and popular use of technology, meanwhile, is another important factor in the developing EAP market. Here's what Marie-Chantal Côté from Sun Life Financial has to say: “Technology is enabling the industry to explore new and better ways to bring flexibility into plan design¹⁴.”

With technology a key driving force behind plan flexibility, it was an easy decision for Dialogue to build upon its proprietary technology to improve the EAP experience.

13 Looking ahead

While the EAP is widely implemented in Canadian organizations, and provides multiple benefits, there exists an important opportunity to evaluate the pain points, examine how it’s serving employers and employees, and ensure it continues to meet their evolving needs.

Any EAP analysis your organization undertakes should include an evaluation of both the results associated with what’s on offer today, and the potential for new, forward-facing offerings to boost historical outcomes.

The EAP of the future is a full-featured, centralized service hub for wellness that provides concrete support and solutions to real-time concerns.

So as we step into that future, there’s no time like the present to nurture your wellness culture by embracing technology, prioritizing plan flexibility, and seeking out high value benefits.

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Employee Assistance Programs (EAP)

Guide Summary

Download the free ebook (PDF) version of the ultimate guide to Employee Assistance Programs (EAP).

Table of Contents

01 What is an EAP or EFAP?