Costs of Employee Assistance Programs: Findings from a National Survey

Abstract

Partly in reaction to heavy alcohol use and illicit drug use by some workers, t’2 many employers have created employee assistance programs (EAPs) to address the variety of problems posed by substance use. Although the initial impetus for establishing EAPs often comes from the need to deal with substance-abuse problems, the mission of EAPs has grown much larger and now encompasses a much broader range of employee problems? Numerous studies ~,4 have examined the EAP process in terms of service delivery and core technologies. This literature provides a rich understanding of the types of workers who obtain help from EAPs and the range of problems addressed. 5,6 However, few studies ~’7-t° have evaluated the costs and effectiveness of EAPs. In particular, no study has estimated the per-employee annual cost of operating an EAP across a large number of worksites drawn from a national probability sample. Using data from a nationally representative survey of EAPs, this article presents findings on the annual cost per eligible employee for EAP services by type of EAP, worksite characteristics, and other factors.