What Is an Employee Assistance Program (EAP)? How to Make the Most of Your Health-Related Benefits

You’re feeling overwhelmed, you need help, and you don’t know where to turn. Have you considered looking into your workplace’s employee assistance program (EAP)?

These are programs designed to help employees — and, often, their families — with mental health, wellness, and financial issues. EAPs don’t get a lot of attention, the way employer-sponsored health insurance plans do. But the benefits they offer can also help you manage your well-being. And they’re free.

EAP benefits: What you should know

Not all EAPs provide the same level of benefits. Some have a lot, in which case you’ll probably think, “Do I have a great employer, or what?” But there’s also the chance that your workplace’s EAP may come with so few perks that you’ll think, “Why’d you even bother offering me anything?”

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EAP services, which may be conducted over the phone, online, or in person, can include:

• Help with stress management

• Counseling or therapy for grief, anxiety, substance use disorder, or another issue

• Legal assistance, such as help with a divorce or family law issue

• Financial planning assistance, such as help with buying a home, planning taxes, or dealing with debt

• Parenting classes

• Child and elder care referral

• Wellness services, like help from a nutritionist

• Adoption assistance

• Help with finding a preschool for your child

• Help with planning for your children’s college

• Career coaching

• Workplace counseling for bullying or another issue

• Assistance from a fraud-prevention specialist, for victims of identity theft

• Support groups, such as for people recovering from cancer

Private- and public-sector EAPs typically aren’t that different. But the smaller your employer, the less likely you are to have access to an EAP. According to the International Employee Assistance Professionals Association, over 97% of companies with more than 5,000 employees have EAPs. Of companies with 1,001 to 5,000 employees, 80% have them. If you work at a company with 251 to 1,000 employees, your odds of having access to an EAP are 75%. Your odds go down from there if you work for a smaller operation.

How EAP services differ from health insurance

EAPs offer an array of services paid for by employers. EAP services are free to you and don’t come with copays or a deductible.  

If your workplace has an EAP, chances are, whether you remember it or not, you were introduced to it when you signed up for your health plan. Your EAP is separate from your employer-sponsored, but some benefits are closely related. 

For instance, you may use your workplace’s EAP: 

• To help you with work-related stress or anxiety: You might test out therapy techniques that maybe you wouldn’t have pursued if you had to pay high out-of-pocket costs using your health plan. 

• To get short-term counseling or assistance as a first step to longer-term care: You might want help determining what level of counseling or assistance you need long term. Or maybe you just want help resolving a situation that only requires a bit of attention.

• To get help with caregiving, financial planning, or education: Counselors and other professionals can direct you to local resources in your community you may not know about, as well as provide educational materials to help you make decisions.  

How do you use an EAP for health-related services?

Generally, you’ll be able to access a benefits webpage with EAP contact information through your company’s intranet. You’ll likely find a phone number and probably an email for a referral agent, sometimes known as an EAP administrator. The referral agent will have access to an array of resources. Often, they can help you connect with a relevant professional within a few days, or sooner if you feel that your problem is urgent.

The benefits page may also have links to well-being assessments and training tutorials on a number of wellness topics. 

Will your employer know when you use your EAP benefits?

Generally, no, your employer won’t know when you use your EAP benefits. There are no guarantees, but they aren’t supposed to have access to that information. There are a couple of exceptions, however. The major one is that if a counselor learns that you may be a threat to yourself or others, they have the right to disclose that information to your employer.

While an employer likely cannot require you to use an employee assistance program, there may be instances when your employer may refer you to your EAP benefits. For instance, if you often lose your temper, your manager may recommend  that you talk to an EAP professional who deals in anger management issues. This could be a legal minefield that would likely prevent an employer from actually requiring an employee to go for counseling.

FAQs about EAPs

Below, you’ll find answers to some frequently asked questions about EAPs.

Can you use multiple EAP services at the same time?

Typically, yes, you can take advantage of multiple EAP services at the same time. But it can depend on the type of EAP your workplace offers. If it’s a comprehensive EAP, you and your family members (maybe even your in-laws) should be able to use multiple EAP services if you need them.

How many therapy sessions do I get with an EAP? 

The number of complimentary therapy sessions that you get depends on what your employer worked out with your EAP provider. Three to six sessions is fairly typical, but you may get more or less.

If you want to see a therapist long term, you’ll likely be able to continue seeing them, but it won’t be covered by your EAP. Whether your insurance will cover it depends on if the therapist is in network or not. (Many are out of network.)

When can I sign up for EAP benefits?

Generally, you get access to EAP benefits during the onboarding process when you are hired. Your EAP may have passive enrollment, meaning you don’t have to do anything special to join.

If you were automatically enrolled when you were hired, you may have forgotten you receive EAP benefits. It’s important to review your benefits package of information to see if EAP is included. If so and you want to use your benefits, you go online, call a number, or send an email to make contact with your EAP

EAP benefits often go unused because people are not aware they have the benefits. On average, 12% of eligible employees used their EAP in 2021, ​​according to a report from the Business Group on Health.

Are there any disadvantages to using an EAP for health-related services?

There can be a stigma attached to using EAP services, which may explain the low rate of people using their benefits. It can be particularly uncomfortable to use EAP services while working in an office. Right or wrong, an employee may fear that whatever they communicate to a mental health professional will make its way to the human resources department.

But, again, use of EAP is supposed to be private and confidential, according to the federal privacy law known as HIPAA. There hasn’t been a lot of research yet on whether EAP use does, in fact, remain confidential. But there is research suggesting that EAPs can work wonders for employees. 

For instance, a study that looked at 24,300 employees who worked with 30 EAPs found that absenteeism from work dropped 27% for those who used EAP services. The study also discovered that employees' engagement at work grew by 8%, while life satisfaction climbed 22%, when working with an EAP.

A potential frustration is that EAP services are short term when you may need long-term assistance. But at least EAP services can help you start to get the care you need. They just may not offer all of the assistance you would like.

How do I get started with an EAP?

If you have an EAP, you may want to make 2024 the year you try using it.

Here are a few tips:

• Study the EAP offerings. Some EAPs have a wide range of benefits. If you assume your EAP can’t help you, you could be way off base. For instance, maybe you plan on buying or refinancing a home or you have healthcare bills piling up. Your EAP can likely connect you with a financial professional who can help you out.

• Seek out more information: If you do identify some services you’d like to use, and you have questions, talk to your EAP administrator or human resources director. You may want to know how many counseling sessions you get for you and your dependents.

• Ask for additional help if you need it. Consider asking your human resources department if there’s wiggle room to add more counseling sessions if you find a good match with an EAP-referred therapist.

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Written by:

Geoff Williams

Geoff Williams has been a journalist since 1992, when he got his start in entertainment journalism and then branched out into business writing and personal finance. Over the years, he has written forLife magazine, Ladies' Home Journal, CNN Money, Reuters, Consumer Reports, the Washington Post, Entrepreneur magazine, and Forbes, among others.

Edited by:

Charlene Rhinehart, CPA

Charlene Rhinehart, CPA, is a personal finance editor at GoodRx. She has been a certified public accountant for over a decade.

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