The Supervisor
and
the Employee Assistance Program
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The EAP is committed to maintaining good relations
between employees and supervisors. To that end we have provided
the following guide to assist supervisors in dealing with employees
who are using the services of the EAP.
The following questions help sort out the details
of the supervisor's involvement with the EAP:
What is the
supervisor's role?
As usual, the supervisor's role is to assess work performance and
take appropriate management action when improvement is required.
Supervisors should be sensitive to the possibility that a personal
difficulty may be the reason for a downturn in an employee's performance.
If there are personal difficulties affecting job
performance, the supervisor should encourage the use of EAP but
at the same time, the supervisor should take corrective action.
Usually, this takes the form of a discussion or a written letter
outlining performance concerns. In such a letter, the supervisor
should mention the availability of the Employee Assistance Program.
A supervisor's corrective action about job performance could provide
some of the motivation required by the employee to resolve the
personal difficulty.
Are there
other ways for the supervisor to be supportive?
Naturally, the supervisor should be patient, sympathetic and understanding
when an employee uses the EAP. Another key part of the support
is to insist that progress is being made toward meeting performance
requirements. This can be a crucial component of the motivation
needed by the employee to resolve the personal difficulty.
Does the
supervisor have the right to know the details of the assistance
being given through EAP?
No. Confidentiality of this information is a cornerstone of the
EAP program. However, if counseling requires any absence from work,
the supervisor has the right to know that EAP sessions are being
attended and that progress toward problem resolution is occurring.
It is up to the employee to demonstrate progress.
If necessary, the supervisor can ask the employee to have either
his/her EAP counselor reassure the supervisor about the general
progress of the counseling program.
What is the
most difficult aspect of EAP for supervisors?
The biggest challenge for the supervisor is to focus on work performance
rather than delaying corrective action because of sympathy for
the troubled employee. Too often, the supervisor mistakenly delays
taking the appropriate action because the employee indicates that
his/her personal difficulties are the root cause of the performance
problem and will soon be resolved.The supervisor should be steadfast
under this inevitable pressure and take the appropriate corrective
action
encourage the use of the EAP
What is the biggest frustration for supervisors
with respect to EAP?
The time it takes for a problem to be resolved. This can be minimized
if the supervisor takes the appropriate corrective action on any
performance problem and also indicates the availability of EAP.
