Masonry Magazine April 1999 Page. 22
Include provisions for program evaluation.
Top management should prepare a letter announcing the EAP and send it to each employee and family. The letter should, at a minimum:
Identify the EAP as a mechanism to help workers and their families who have personal problems.
Specify eligibility for using the EAP.
Explain the relationship of an EAP to other organizational components, including the roles and responsibilities of various personnel in the organization.
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Make clear that participation in an EAP will not jeopardize future employment or advancement nor will it protect workers from disciplinary action for continued substandard job performance or rule infractions.
Outline procedures for supervisory and union referrals, voluntary referrals, and peer referrals.
Employee representatives can explore the possibility of a joint program with top management. Or they can start their own assistance program or join with other employee groups to start a program. When the EAP concept is implemented by a union or other employee group for its members, the designation becomes MAP - member assistance program. Employee representatives can contact groups that have experience with MAPs or EAPs to get information on starting a program or retain an MAP or EAP professional for consultation on starting a program.
With or without a company or union EAP, employees have the ability to inform co-workers about alcohol and other drugs, confront users with their unacceptable work behaviors, provide referral information, and support those who are becoming drug and alcohol free. In many occupations and organizations, employees are often the first to notice a change in a co-worker's behavior or attitude, and personal problems can thereby be spotted and addressed in the early stages before serious job performance problems develop. Employees can also ease the way for co-workers who are recovering from substance abuse, going the extra mile on and off the worksite.
Perhaps the most important thing to remember is that each organization has its own unique characteristics, dynamics and culture. Although it is useful to compare notes with others, each work force may have some special characteristics that an EAP must accommodate: high turnover, assorted shifts, predominantly one gender or minority group, merger and acquisition issues, or considerable decentralization.
No matter what the special requirements of the work force, an EAP can be designed to fit those needs. Ultimately, however, the success of the EAP will depend on the quality of the staff and the commitment of those responsible for its operation. And finally, it must be kept in mind that an EAP will take time to set up and become effective; it is not a "quick fix" solution. Yet, for the companies who have taken the time and effort to set up an EAP, the results have been worth it.
For information on finding an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) professional consultant if your company is small and cannot set up its own program or to help provide training opportunities for such a program in your company, contact the EAPA (Employee Assistance Professionals Association) at 2101 Wilson Blvd. Ste. 500, Arlington, VA 22201-3062 or call 1-703-522-6272.
Drug testing is in and of itself a separate issue, but another component within a total approach to substance abuse in the workplace, which includes a written policy, employee education and supervisor training, and an EAP.
Because the use of alcohol and other drugs by workers can affect an employers' right to expect and obligation to promote a healthful, safe, and productive workplace, some form of drug testing (which can deter as well as detect drug use and facilitate rehabilitation) may be appropriate.
Starting a drug testing program is not a simple process. A testing program must be developed in accordance with relevant legal requirements (which vary in their application).
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