COLUMBIA, S.C. — The theater scene played out like this: A husband and wife sitting around the breakfast table. He’s working two jobs. She has been laid off.
Their daughter wants to attend a $175 cheerleading camp. The electric bill is $175 and past due.
A fight erupts. The husband leaves and heads to work. There, he asks his boss for time off to take care of the late utility bill.
The boss is upset because of the man’s increasing requests to leave work for personal reasons.
This theatrical scenario was presented last week to a group of human resource managers and insurance providers, who nodded their heads and whispered among themselves, “This is pretty typical.” While this scenario was fiction, those who provide counseling through employee-assistance programs say they are seeing more clients as the economy takes its toll on working families.
It’s in these times that employee assistance providers want their clients to understand their services aren’t just for addicts or people who are depressed. They provide a range of services from financial counseling to writing wills.
The theatrical performance was part of a seminar presented by First Sun Solutions, which provides employee-assistance services to 300 businesses in South Carolina, company president Maria Lund said.
The company wanted to demonstrate how its services could benefit companies and their workers, she said.
Lund said she’s hearing from companies who say stress from the recession is showing up in the workplace.
“A lot of employers are telling us that when they used to have discipline actions it would be a regular conversation with the employee,” she said. “Now when they have that same conversation people are starting to cry. They’re saying, ‘Things are going wrong at home, and I can’t take it here.”‘ Ginger Phillips, the regional manager in South Carolina for Reach EAP, said her company also is getting more calls since the recession began.
“We’ve always had folks with financial problems but I’m seeing a little more that,” Phillips said. “We’re seeing more stress in marriages because of financial problems.” First Sun opened 16 percent more new cases between January and July than it did during the same period of 2008, said Russ Knight, the company’s regional vice president.
First Sun also reported a 23 percent increase during the same period in managers calling to consult about employee performance problems, Knight said.
“There are a lot more problems that are coming from financial challenges that are being faced by families,” he said.
At most companies, employee-assistance programs are free to the workers.
Employees make appointments for themselves, or sometimes company officials refer employees to the service, Knight said. The programs can help with everything from writing wills to marriage counseling to substance abuse problems. In most cases, the counseling session is confidential.
“We need to make employees understand it’s not just for a drinking problem,” Knight said. “You can go there for a financial problem.
You can go there if you’re having problems with a kid.” Companies that use First Sun typically pay about $2 per employee to contract the services, Lund said.
At Lexington (S.C.) Medical Center, Kathy Howell, the hospital’s vice president for human resources, said more employees were using the service this year.
“Anecdotally yeah, we are seeing a few more issues at work and we’re seeing more people willing to reach out,” she said.
Howell said the service is an important benefit and worth every penny the hospital spends.
“There’s much more to life than just work,” she said. “Often when there are issues that arise at work that’s the tip of the iceberg. There are usually problems at home that are causing them to falter at work.” Cindy Goettsch, human resources manager for Chester County, S.C., said she sees economic frustration bubbling up for county employees and those who are coming to apply for jobs. Chester County’s 21.9 percent unemployment rate is the state’s third highest.
Goettsch recently ordered 50 brochures about dealing with layoffs from her employee-assistance program. She put them on a display rack in her office for anyone to pick up.
“In my mind when I saw it was affecting my employees, their families and their friends I thought it would help,” she said.
Not only did employees pick them up, but so did job candidates coming to the office to fill out applications, she said.
“We’re just trying to help the community,” she said.
As the recession creeps along, Phillips of Reach EAP said she has been surprised that more companies are adding EAP services to their benefits packages.
“A lot of people are struggling and I see a lot of companies trying to deal with this,” she said.
——— WHAT EAPS CAN DO FOR YOU Those who run employee assistance programs — also known as EAPs — say they do more than counsel people through addictions.
—Legal consultations, including help with writing wills and advice on rights if you’re the subject of a police investigation.
—Financial counseling, including creating savings plans, helping with predatory lenders or explaining credit scores —Eldercare, including researching in-home and day care providers and creating powers of attorney —Adoption, including consultations on options —Management advice, including helping managers figure out how to deal with problems with employees —Marriage counseling ——— (c) 2009, The State (Columbia, S.C.).
