Trend report: EAPs expand rapidly as organizations adapt to new workforce challenges

Employee assistance programs have a long history, dating back nearly 90 years, but 2020 has brought a major shift in the need for them to be well-rounded, comprehensive and progressive.

EAPs began in the 1930s as a way to help employees deal with alcoholism. Since then, they’ve seen several evolutions, but COVID-19’s impact has rushed progressive benefits programs to the fore in an effort to meet employee needs and increase ROI.

“In a cost-basis analysis, greater use of EAPs is necessary, especially at this critical time when the pandemic has many corporate leaders rethinking the best ways to retain and support a productive and resilient workforce,” says Cheryl Brown Merriwether, executive director of the International Center for Addiction and Recovery Education and president-elect of the Greater Orlando Society for Human Resources Management.

Top management at most companies would agree an EAP is vital. A 2019 Employee Benefits report from the Society for Human Resource Management found 83 percent of businesses offer EAPs in various forms.