A Review of Canadian EAP Policies

Abstract A review of 154 Canadian EAPs found that 130 organizations had developed formal policies governing the program while 24 had not. Organizations with a policy were larger in size and were more likely to be unionized. They were also more likely to have had their EAP initiated by a joint labour-management committee and to use peer supports and internal resources to deliver EAP services. Of those EAPs without a policy, a disproportionate number had been developed during the 1990s. EAPs that had not developed a policy were also more likely to have begun exclusively by management and were more likely to rely on a third-party provider for clinical and administrative services. Of the 130 programs with EAP policies, 80 provided copies to be analyzed. Policies ranged in size from one to 31 pages with varying levels of comprehensiveness. Using the EAP Policy Best Practices Guidelines, policies scored between 5% and 75% with a mean of 36.7%. The introductory statement of principles, including discussions of the range of problems to be covered, confidentiality and union/management endorsement, was typically the strongest area of the policies. Areas that typically required enhancement were program development and EAP program roles. The comprehensiveness of the EAP policy was correlated with the size of the organization but not with program utilization. Public sector policies tended to be more comprehensive though only 26 of the 80 policies received a score of 50% or greater.