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Employee Assistance Program (EAP) Information for Employers

Positive Solutions is a wholly Tasmanian EAP provider with the capacity to provide services to employers in all regions of Tasmania.

We pride ourselves on our partnership approach to working with our customer organisations, aiming to create supportive, productive and positive workplace cultures where employees can thrive.

Our EAP services are highly responsive and provide professional support for employees experiencing personal or work-related issues.

Offering a continuity of care model, individuals can also continue to access support at Positive Solutions past their EAP through our private counselling, family mediation or psychological services.

Why are EAPs Important?

Mental health illness is the leading cause of lost productivity and absence. The Australian Productivity Commission has estimated the annual cost for workplace absenteeism and presenteeism in Australia is between $13 and $17 billion. Of this amount, employee presenteeism accounts for around 70 to 80 per cent.

With the Australian Government estimating that more than 1 in 5 people experience a mental health disorder in a 12 month period, it is highly likely that in your business you have an employee who is experiencing an issue which is affecting their wellbeing and subsequently their engagement at work.

Providing your employees with free and confidential support through an EAP can not only assist employees in improving their mental health but can also include:

Demonstrating that the workplace cares about employees’ wellbeing which can have positive organisational outcomes, including increased workplace engagement. There is an estimated return on investment of $2.30 for each $1 spent on mental health programs.
Assist employees in gaining lifelong coping strategies and skills, increasing resilience;
Decreasing stress and anxiety;
Acting as a preventative measure in assisting with issues before they escalate into longer term problems.

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What type of support services are available in an Employee Assistance Program?

Positive Solutions can provide tailored employee assistance packages to meet the needs of your organisation and your employees. Packages can include one or more services.

Counselling

As an organisation you nominate who many counselling and support sessions employees, and whether this extends to family, can access. This can be over a financial, calendar or rolling annual basis. The sessions can then be accessed directly by employees, and in some cases their immediate family, to seek support for work and/or personal issues.

Support can be accessed at signs of early distress through to where there is significant impact. It is always recommended that support should be sought earlier before the issue becomes significant.

Counselling and support through our EAP can be offered to individuals (including children), couples and families.

Onsite Support

Counsellors can attend onsite to assist in supporting staff either individually or as a group. Onsite support is different to critical incident support in that the response may not be time critical and in response to an unplanned serious event. We will work with the manager to understand what’s required and provide support to those involved. The reasons that onsite support are requested are varied however common examples are:

Organisational change, e.g. a restructure or redundancy
Difficult news is being delivered to an employee
Issues such as stress impacting on a number of employees.

Training

Positive Solutions offers a variety of off the shelf, such as Accredited Mental Health First Aid and tailored training programs, both face-to-face and online, for leaders, managers and employees.

For further information about our training services please click here.

Manager/Supervisor Support Sessions

We can support and offer advice for those people in your organisation who may be people leaders. Focusing on self-development and personal skills we can assist people leaders with people management issues. There are wide range of reasons why people leaders may access this service and can include:

Dealing with a difficult workplace situation/s
Managing conflict
Concerns regarding the mental health of a team member
Managing difficult conversations

Workers Compensation

Positive Solutions is able to accept referrals under Workers Compensation to assist those who have incurred a psychological injury. Referral can be made by a rehabilitation provider, insurer, nominated treating doctor, or employer. However, it’s crucial to obtain approval from an insurer claims manager before proceeding with any services.

For further information about our workers compensation support services please click here.

Workplace Mediation & Facilitation

Workplace mediation and facilitated conversations are effective in resolving conflict between individuals in the workplace. Mediators meet with parties to a dispute in confidential individual sessions before proceeding to a joint mediation session. Further sessions may be required to reach a resolution. Limited feedback is provided to the workplace including a summary of the participants’ agreements (for mediation only) and recommendations.

For further information about workplace mediation please click here.

Critical Incident Management

A critical incident is any event that occurs suddenly, is unexpected, presents a threat and causes a significant emotional response. The reaction and recovery times will be different for each individual and as such the support that they may require will also vary.

An appropriate response to a critical incident is essential for the wellbeing and resilience of those impacted and can have significant impacts on the post-incident recovery trajectory for impacted staff. Under Work, Health and Safety laws, employers have an obligation to ensure a work environment does what is reasonably practicable to eliminate and reduce the psychological risks to workers and others at the workplace. This includes responding to critical incidents.

Positive Solutions provides a prompt, flexible and tailored approach to responding to critical incidents and works with the organisation on a case-by-case basis to ensure that the response is appropriate for the immediate and ongoing needs of that organisation and those who have been impacted.

We regularly provide critical incident support for a range of incidents including death, violence and workplace accidents. Our guidelines and response to critical incidents are underpinned by a Psychological First Aid model to effectively manage the risks of psychological trauma, where onsite support is recommended post 24 hours of an incident.

For further information on Critical Incidents please click here.

Supervision

Professional supervision provides support and encouragement to employees and employers to maintain professional excellence and individual wellbeing through on-going regular individual sessions. Supervision offers participants a chance to reflect on and grow in their area of expertise and focusses on practice issues, administrative aspects of their role, individual, professional and team well-being and developmental goals.

For further information on our supervision program click here.

Conflict Coaching

Do you have a team member that has a difficult personality and may be causing issues within a team through creating conflict?

Conflict coaching offers confidential one on one sessions to employees who are in conflict in the workplace. The aim of the sessions is to help participants to gain insight into their situation, identify goals for change that benefit themselves and others and construct a measurable and realistic plan for achieving their objectives. Conflict coaches also assist participants to develop conflict resolution skills.

Participation in the process is voluntary with limited feedback is provided to the employer.

Our Staff

Our services are delivered by qualified and experienced psychologists, social workers, counsellors, mediators and educators who have a diverse range of qualifications and specialisations. All staff work within strict ethical guidelines under best practice policies and procedures. Practitioners attend ongoing professional training and development and receive regular supervision.

How can I set up an EAP?

Simply contact our Head Office. We will assess your individual organisational needs to develop an EAP which fits with your requirements. We will assess your individual organisational needs to develop an EAP which fits with your requirements.

Call: (03) 6223 5612

Email: [email protected]

What is the cost?

We want every workplace to be able to have cost effective and high quality EAP services. An affordable fee structure will be negotiated in consultation with you, based on your needs.

How do employees access the EAP?

After an EAP arrangement been established, there are several methods to access services:

For counselling, all employees may call or email our Hobart office to book an appointment at any one of our offices.
As a manager or supervisor you may wish to refer employees to our website or provide them with our information brochure. EAP counselling is voluntary and generally we will not contact an employee on your behalf.
To arrange any other support please contact our office.

Get In Touch Today.

To make an appointment or to obtain further information on any of our services during business hours please call or email.

Call: (03) 6223 5612

Email: [email protected]

Positive Solutions has offices located in Hobart, Launceston, Burnie, Devonport, Wynard and St Helens.

Head Office – Hobart: 165 Davey Street, Hobart TAS 7000