Abstract

A research project was undertaken to explore the differences and similarities between employee assistance programmes (EAPs) and occupational social work (OSW). This was done in order to provide clear and distinct guidelines to potential employers/corporate clients regarding a choice between occupational social work (OSW) and employee assistance programmes (EAP) when they are considering the introduction of programmes and services to promote the psycho-social functioning and productivity of employees and the successful operation of the workplace at large. In addition to the literature study on these two concepts, occupational social work and employee assistance programmes, an empirical study was conducted, consisting of a qualitative and a quantitative component. The qualitative study was performed by a number of researchers who used the same data-collection instrument, developed by the group of researchers under the supervision of the main author of this article. Data were, however, collected in different ways, i.e. one-on-one personal interviews, interviews via e-mail, and focus group interviews. The quantitative part was performed through an on-line survey with a self-developed questionnaire, also under the supervision of the main author. Findings confirmed that both the EAPs and OSW deal with work-related, personal, interpersonal and productivity issues. The findings further confirmed that the kind of employee issues addressed dealt with a range of concerns, including substance abuse, stress, trauma, financial difficulties, conflict, absenteeism, employee development and bereavement. Despite a number of similarities between OSW and EAPs, very few differences have been confirmed other than the variables impacting on structure and legalisation, which also confirms why the EAP and the OSW cannot be used as interchangeable concepts.

Highlights

  • Whether employees’ issues are work-related affecting their home life or home-related affecting their work life, the employee is experiencing imbalances relating to some form of stress, which affects their productivity and job performance, as well as the workplace organisation.Because both performance and productivity are affected, the consequence is a disruption of the employee’s work-life balance

  • The findings further indicated that the participants did not seem to understand the distinction between statutory registration and voluntary membership with an association

  • The findings further indicated that the kind of employee issues that are dealt with range from substance abuse, stress, trauma, financial difficulties, conflict, absenteeism and employee development to bereavement

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Summary

Introduction

Whether employees’ issues are work-related affecting their home life or home-related affecting their work life, the employee is experiencing imbalances relating to some form of stress, which affects their productivity and job performance, as well as the workplace organisation. Because both performance and productivity are affected, the consequence is a disruption of the employee’s work-life balance. Due to the holistic and systemic nature of human beings, and the natural overflow of (negative) energy from one part of the employee’s life to another, the employee finds it difficult to resolve his work- or home-related issues without assistance and often requires some sort of external intervention. Because of the impact that employees’ stress has on their job performance and productivity, there is a need for workplace programmes that provide personal and social services to employees, referred to as employee assistance programmes or EAPs (Mogorosi, 2009:343)

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