Pubdate: Mon, 07 Apr 2003
Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch (MO)
Copyright: 2003 St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Contact:  http://www.stltoday.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/418
Author: Repps Hudson

ENLIGHTENED FIRMS HIRE OUTSIDE HELP TO AID TROUBLED EMPLOYEES

Tax time's next week. We're still in the Middle East.

And then there are the usual year-round problems: teenage children, bumpy 
marriages, conflicting schedules, aging parents, too many bills, poor 
health insurance.

It's enough to drive workers - and their managers - to serious distraction.

Fortunately, many companies long ago had the foresight to add an employee 
assistance program, or EAP, to their benefits packages - one more thing 
enlightened firms do to hang onto their employees. They know it's very 
costly to hire and train someone.

Today, with a stressful economy, war and life's usual problems, EAPs may be 
more valuable than ever.

One of the largest providers, Magellan Health Services of Columbia, Md., 
covers 27 million workers at nearly 2,000 companies, among them the 
motivational and corporate-travel giant Maritz Inc., based in Fenton.

That bland term, employee assistance program, covers a wealth of services 
for workers, regardless of rank, who need professional help for legal 
hassles, compulsive gambling, depression, anxiety, financial planning, 
alcohol and drug abuse, and the like.

"EAPs cover anything that can impact 'presenteeism,'" said Kristin L. 
Brunnworth, Magellan's spokeswoman.

Everyone knows what absenteeism is.

Brunnworth defines presenteeism this way: "Somebody can be at work, but 
they are not doing any work. You know: 'My daughter just got kicked out of 
school because they found drugs on her.'"

For Terry Goring, Maritz's vice president of human resources, it made 
eminent good sense 25 years ago for the Fenton company to provide services 
to help employees deal with everyday issues that could undermine their 
productivity.

Some HR managers argue that there's nothing enlightened about having an EAP 
available. The company's self-interest is obvious: Effective, toll-free 
counseling should be standing by around the clock.

The idea is to help employees with emotional traumas, said one HR manager 
at a large local company.

For a flat fee, a company of any size can sign up with providers such as 
Magellan, whose counseling operation is based in Maryland Heights. The 
extent of service dictates the fee.

At Maritz, for instance, Goring said the cost runs $20 to $30 an employee 
for four to six sessions for each "crisis." So Maritz spends about $150,000 
tops to ensure that its roughly 5,000 workers could get the short-term 
guidance they need in a crunch.

The usual usage rate is 3 percent to 4 percent of the work force a year, 
Goring said. In some companies, where employee stress is higher, the usage 
rate could be double that.

Many employees never take advantage of their company's EAP. Others use it 
often. If they need more than short-term help, usually they are referred to 
other professionals.

Sometimes, as with medical care, those services could be covered by 
insurance. Others, such as legal advice, the employee would have to pay for.

With the war in Iraq, chances are that at least a few employees have 
relatives or friends somewhere in the theater of operations.

Goring and his staff will never know that. Under EAP rules, employees are 
assured confidentiality.

That's a natural outgrowth of the evolution of EAPs. Goring and Brunnworth 
both said the idea for comprehensive, confidential coverage grew out of 
alcoholism and drug treatment programs of the 1960s and 1970s. While those 
might have been handled in-house, their effectiveness was in doubt because 
of the lack of confidentiality.
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart