Читать реферат по английскому: "Employee Assistance Programs Essay Research Paper Implementing" Страница 1

(Назад) (Cкачать работу)

Employee Assistance Programs Essay, Research Paper

Implementing Employee Assistance Programs

Introduction

When the average employee hears the words “employee assistance programs”, he may immediately think of medical benefits. Another employee may think of Workers Compensation. Yet another may think of further training for possible advancement. Although all of their conceptions are true, they are not all inclusive. There are several parts to the vehicle called Employee Assistance Programs, or EAPs. Employee Assistance Programs are defined by Myers as “structured programs that utilize technical, administrative, and professional human services and personnel people, on either a contractual or employment basis, to meet the needs of troubled employees” (4). EAPs are needed so that the work environment is safe and productivity is as high as possible. This benefits the employees as well as the employers. The process of creating and implementing EAPs will be discussed.

It is important to define who the troubled employee is, how the EAPs are to be structured, and how it is that the troubled employee is helped through the structured programs. As those three areas are discussed, some of the statistics that make these EAPs necessary, or at the very least, helpful, will be looked at also.

The Troubled Employee

Many of us have seen Gus he s the one who believes that in order to ease the hang over from last nights party, he has to have a drink the next morning. But it may not stop there. He needs a sip around 10am to take the edge off. Whatever he does on his lunch is his business so he may go home and have a couple of beers before returning to his job – at the factory. Gus probably has a problem with alcohol, as do 6 to 10 percent of the employee population (Myers 5). Of that number, 30 percent of them are manual workers (Myers 5). In any situation, this could become quite costly if there were an accident on the job. There are the obvious medical bills, Workers Compensation, destroyed or otherwise broken machinery, and the cost of training new employees. 47 percent of industrial accidents are alcohol related (Cascio 587). It is clear that an alcoholic employee is a troubled employee.

Next on the list is Sharon. Sharon comes into the office every morning at least 10 minutes late and when she does, she s pretty irritated. Around 9:30, she leaves for a coffee break and returns with a silly smile on her face, an odd smell on her clothing and a dire need for cupcakes. She generally “sneaks out” 30 minutes early from work. After a little investigating, it is found out that Sharon smokes marijuana during her lunches and her breaks. When Sharon returns from her “coffee breaks”, she is disoriented and sloppy. Sharon is the finance department for a locally owned department store. She writes all of the checks for the store, sends out payroll and does all of the general bookkeeping. This could become a costly problem for her employer if the situation is not rectified. Recreational drug users like Sharon typically “steal time” from their employers to help support their drug habits.

They use more sick days, are more likely to file workers compensation claims and are 1/3 less productive than other workers (Cascio 588). In Sharon s case, the cost can run higher simply because of the nature of her position. If Sharon transposed numbers on checks, forgot to write a check or forgot to log a check into the bookkeeping system, she could end up costing her company much more than time.

Many employees do steal a bit more than time from their companies. Employee theft ranges from cheating the employer out of time and office supplies to stealing money. Sharon, if given the inkling, could rework the bookkeeping where she works so that she could embezzle money. This may seem a bit far fetched to most people. However, employee theft is cause for concern because it is estimated that white collar crime in this area alone cost businesses $100 million dollars annually (Myers 7).

There may be personal reasons behind why an employee would steal from his employer. Gus could be having financial problems resulting from his excessive drinking. He may be inclined to take work materials from his job in order to do some things on the side, or even sell the merchandise he stole for extra money. If Sharon is having problems with child care or home responsibilities, her work performance may be significantly affected. Studies show that this type of stress on a woman in the workforce contribute to the high rate of alcoholism among working women (Myers 7). It is suspected that this stress contributes to higher rates of drug use as well.

Also on the list of troubles are gambling, legal problems, violence and mental illness. 80 to 100 million people in the United States gamble regularly. Of that number, 6 percent ( six million people) have a problem with compulsive gambling (Myers 6). Violence is a serious issue in the workplace. As many as 20 workers a week are murdered (Cascio 589). On-the-job violence may be the effect of any number of stressors on an employee who feels there is no other way to vent his frustration. There could be any number of reasons, previously stated and otherwise, that might precipitate legal problems also. Legal problems and gambling debts are two additional stressors that an otherwise outstanding employee may have to tackle, causing him to be violent or in some other way troubled.

An employee may have other issues that may not be as obviously dangerous and alcoholism or violence. However, these other issues may be equally or more costly. An employee may have physical and mental health issues. It is estimated that employers lose approximately $17 billion dollars per year due to the 35 percent of the workforce experiencing some type of emotional dysfunction (Myers 8). These mental health issues

Похожие работы