Employee Assistance Program

The University offers an Employee Assistance Program to help employees resolve personal problems that may adversely affect job performance. The program seeks to restore individual health and productivity, improve efficiency, and retain experienced employees.

The program is both remedial and preventive, and is designed to:

• identify problems at the earliest stage possible,
• motivate the individual to seek help,
• encourage voluntary participation and self-referral, and
• refer the individual to the most appropriate assistance available.

Although it is designed primarily to assist permanent employees whose work performance has deteriorated, the Employee Assistance Program is available to any employee, whether probationary, permanent, temporary, or retired. Supervisors are encouraged to suggest EAP to employees experiencing personal problems which may eventually affect work performance. Participation in EAP is voluntary. The employee's family members also may participate.

The phone number of the EAP office is 929-2362. The EAP office is located at Timberlyne Shopping Center, 1101 Weaver Dairy Road, Suite 101-1, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

The Employee Assistance Program has two mechanisms for employees to obtain assistance: self-referral and supervisory-referral.

Self-Referral

To initiate a self-referral or to request information, an employee may call the EAP office directly. Assistance is also available through Employee Services at 962-1483.

Supervisory-Referral

If disciplinary action (formal oral warning, written warning, final written warning) is in process, any referral to the Employee Assistance Program is considered a supervisory referral.

Unlike self-referrals, which are strictly confidential, certain limited information from supervisory referrals can be released to the University only with the written consent of the employee. This consent will be obtained by the EAP Counselor.

If the employee accepts the offer of help, the supervisor should contact the EAP Counselor, who will arrange an appointment.

Although an employee might decline the offer of help, this option can be repeated any time the supervisor feels the employee may have become more receptive.

During a corrective interview or in other discussions with an employee, the supervisor might become aware that the employee is experiencing a personal problem. The supervisor should not attempt to identify the problem or to advise the employee on solutions. The desired result of a supervisory referral is to obtain the required job performance and work habits.

An employee using the EAP services should be reminded that job continuation is not guaranteed. Participation in the program carries no special privileges.

Throughout the referral process, the supervisor should firmly but sincerely encourage the employee to seek assistance, guarding against misguided feelings of sympathy or personal hostility.

Supervisors are encouraged to seek assistance from the EAP Counselor at an early stage in dealing with troubled employees and to use the referral route most acceptable to the employee. The objective is to make it easier for the employee to get help.

The EAP services complement the disciplinary process but they are not part of it. The supervisor should not offer the EAP as an alternative to disciplinary action. When disciplinary action is called for, and the supervisor determines that the EAP might be helpful, it should be suggested as an adjunct to disciplinary action. The employee may be motivated only after recognizing that the consequences of not accepting the help may include an alternative (dismissal) more intolerable than fear of treatment or exposure.

If an employee who has initiated the assistance process is dismissed, that employee remains eligible for continued help. Coverage through the health benefits plan might not continue.

An employee will not be charged leave for time spent with the EAP counselor. If a person is referred for continuing treatment or rehabilitation with a referred professional resource, vacation leave, sick leave, or leave without pay is used.

There is no cost to the employee for the services provided by the EAP Counselor. However, any costs associated with additional services or treatment with outside providers are the employee's responsibility. When additional services are recommended by the EAP Counselor, the employee or family member is given a choice of several agencies or providers, whenever possible. The EAP Counselor gives special attention to the possible costs of available services when making referrals. Charges for some services may be covered by the State Comprehensive Insurance Plan or under other insurance plans (e.g., Health Maintenance Organizations).

All information relative to an employee's participation in the program is treated in strict confidence. No record of an individual's treatment is maintained by the University. Where disciplinary action is concerned, the fact that an employee was given the option to participate in the program may be reflected in the personnel file. However, no record or related material is filed to indicate whether or not the employee agreed to participate. In supervisory referrals, the specific nature of an employee's problem is not reported to the University by the EAP Counselor or treatment resource.