Hot off the Press: The Week in EAP News

Some of the top news highlights in the EAP field, the week of May 29 – June 2, curated by EASNA (www.easna.org)

Welcome to our regular roundup of news impacting the EAP and related fields. From calculating the cost of ignoring mental health to keeping your wellness programming up to the pace of today's employees, check out the notable stories linked below.

Summary

• Calculating the Business Costs of Ignoring Mental Health
• Employers See Greater Control of Healthcare Decisions with Benefits Marketplace
• Employers Increasingly Cautious About Future Wellness Investments
• Sector Report: EAPs are Valuable but Underused
• Drugging on the Job: The Continued Denial of Workplace Addiction
• Workplace Health and Wellness Toolkit Built By Men For Men
• Workplace Mental Health Support Worse For Public Sector Than Private Sector Workers
• Can Your Wellness Program Keep Pace With High Tech Employees?

1. Calculating the Business Costs of Ignoring Mental Health

Source: Globe & Mail, Bill Howatt and Louise Bradley 

Do you need your people to make your business a success? While the answer is as simple as, “Yes, of course,” the reality is far more complicated. People are not machines. Without proper support, they may not perform to their full potential, or may even break down.

Whether your organization is small, medium or large, building a business case for investing in employee mental health starts with marshalling the financial facts. It means obtaining senior leadership support to invest, develop and implement a mental health strategy.

Read more here: https://tgam.ca/2s14oSK

2. Employers See Greater Control of Healthcare Decisions with Benefits Marketplace

Source: EBN (Employee Benefit News, Online)

Employees who choose their healthcare and other benefits from an online marketplace have a high rate of satisfaction and a greater sense of control over their healthcare decisions, according to the 2017 Employer Survey Report conducted by Willis Towers Watson.

Of the 202 employers surveyed in the annual Willis survey, 97% of employers said they were satisfied with their experience using a private marketplace and 98% of employers who used a market place the following year were satisfied with their overall experience. Willis also found that 89% of respondents said that moving to the marketplace option “positively impacted their company culture.”

Full article here: https://bit.ly/2qFpCDI

3. Employers Increasingly Cautious About Future Wellness Investments

Source: Benefits Canada

Employer appetite for investing in wellness appears to be waning, delegates heard at the Toronto launch of the 2017 Sanofi Canada Health Care Survey.

According to the survey, only 31 per cent of employers said they’re planning to invest in wellness, down from 51 per cent in 2012 and 68 per cent in 2011. With more employees reporting increased stress and anxiety in the workplace, a culture of wellness shouldn’t be overlooked, said Jonathan Avery, director of product, group benefits at Manulife.

Survey link here (download the PDF): https://bit.ly/2rDDraS

4. Sector Report: EAPs are Valuable but Underused

Source: Workforce (Online)

Utilization rates for EAPs in North America are less than 7 percent, according to one report. Employers are telling their workers: Use your EAP or lose it.

Demonstrating positive outcomes of EAP offerings is something providers are paying closer attention to in order to reinforce the value proposition of these services, Donaldson said. To tackle this challenge, benefits leaders and EAP providers need to do a better job communicating the availability and value of EAP services to employees, and overcoming stigmas related to employees’ seeking help for mental health disorders. They also need to provide training and career coaching for managers about when and how to refer employees to these services.

Read more here: https://bit.ly/2rPT0ZO

5. Drugging on the Job: The Continued Denial of Workplace Addiction

Source: The Fix Addiction Recovery Straight Up

Employers who suspect someone of using drugs on the job may be reluctant to intervene because they fear they'll be charged with discrimination.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 76 percent of people with drug or alcohol problems are employed, and about 19.2 million U.S. workers (15%) reported using or being impaired by alcohol at work at least once in the past year. Despite these statistics, addiction in the workplace is as much a tricky beast for the employer as it is for the addict.

As Dana Wilkie, online editor/manager for the Society for Human Resource Management, explains, there is a fine line between calling out an employee’s behavior and becoming a liability yourself. She shares: “There are tell-tale signs, which a manager should observe and document: slurred speech, an odor of alcohol, an accident that appears to have been caused by substance abuse, impaired mobility or the discovery of empty bottles of alcohol in the employee's desk drawer.”

Read more here: https://bit.ly/2rnD0jJ

6. Workplace Health and Wellness Toolkit Built By Men For Men

Source: Canadian Broadcast Company

'Masculine look and feel' includes design elements, strategic language and messaging

A branding strategy that has a "masculine look and feel," is at the centre of a workplace health program that hopes to reach men in male-dominated industries in northern British Columbia.

Read more here: https://bit.ly/2sr6NFH

7. Workplace Mental Health Support Worse For Public Sector Than Private Sector Workers

Source: Insight: People Places Technology

The results show that public sector workers are more likely to disclose that they have a mental health problem, are more likely to be up front about it if they do take time off because of their mental health and are more likely to report that the workplace culture makes it possible for people to speak openly about their mental health.

However, when they do open up, support isn’t always forthcoming. Less than half (49 percent) of people said they felt supported when they disclosed mental health problems, compared with three in five (61 percent) in the private sector.

Read more here: https://bit.ly/2shupgC

8. Can Your Wellness Program Keep Pace With High Tech Employees?

Source: HuffPost

Research shows that personalization leads to better results than the generic approach. People tend to like personal experiences more. They click, call, join in and buy more. In short, you’ll have better HR program adoption when people feel like you’re doing programs for them, not to them.

Read more here: https://bit.ly/2shvxRi

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