What is Employee Assistance Programme (EAP)?

Full Definition

An Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) is a confidential support service, usually funded by the employer and provided through a specialist third-party provider, that gives employees (and often their immediate family) access to help with a range of personal and work-related issues -- commonly including mental health and emotional support, stress and anxiety, relationship or family difficulties, bereavement, debt and money worries, and sometimes basic legal information. Support is typically delivered through a telephone helpline available outside normal working hours, along with structured counselling sessions (often a set number of free sessions per issue), online self-help resources, and in some cases a dedicated app. Because EAPs are confidential and run independently of the employer's own HR function, employees can generally use them without their employer being told who has accessed the service or what for, which is intended to remove a barrier some people feel about raising sensitive personal issues at work. EAPs are increasingly offered as a low-cost but valuable addition to an employee benefits package, sitting alongside things like private medical insurance and income protection, and are often highlighted in occupational health and wellbeing strategies as part of an employer's broader duty to support staff wellbeing, though take-up is frequently lower than usage data would suggest is needed, partly due to limited employee awareness that the benefit exists at all.

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