What are the Cons associated with Employee Assistance Program?

Employees are the most essential part of an organization. With the working, productivity and profits of a company, everything is entirely dependent on the way its employees work. But the employee-employer relationship has always been a give-and-take sort of thing. The employees provide their services in exchange for monetary benefits. However, the times are changing, so as the working pattern of employees, and so does the needs of the employees. The working hours are increasing at a fast pace, achieving targets is becoming more difficult, and work-life balance has just become a concept in the books.

All these things are leading to lower rates of employee retention and more resignations, things that affect the productivity and profitability of a company severely. Thus, it has become mandatory for employers to offer “extra” to their employees. Therefore, the concept of the Employee Assistance Program has made its way up and front. Employee Assistance Programs can be defined as employer-funded programs that are designed to provide a vast range of services and benefits to the employees. The services or benefits offered as a part of EAPs in Bangalore include medical facilities, social, psychological support, etc. These are offered to ensure work-life balance in the lives of employees to increase the productivity, creativity, and working of the employees.

Even though these employee assistance programs are designed to offer various benefits to the users, there are various cons associated with them. The cons of these EAPs vary from effectiveness to confidentiality and can be defined as:

High Expenses:

One of the biggest cons of these employee assistance programs is for the employer. These EAPs often tend to outweigh the benefits which are counted in terms of increased productivity and employee satisfaction. Offering in-house employee assistance programs often become a costly affair for the employee, yielding very fewer results in comparison to the expenditure.

The threat of Misuse:

Another loophole that revolves around the EAPs offered by various companies includes the threat of being misused. The biggest misuse of employee assistance programs is recorded when it comes to suspension due to discipline. Often the employees are seen escaping such suspensions citing stress, addiction, etc. as the reasons for their behavior.

Questionable Effectiveness:

The effectiveness of employee assistance programs is also a big question mark. Employees tend to avail of the services or benefits offered that hold some potential in their eyes. In case, the employee does not like the employer or the service provided, he/she shall not use such service which makes offering these EAPs ineffective.

Confidentiality:

To avail the services or benefits provided by an employer, the employee needs to share his/her family details, personal details that make his/her privacy or information confidentiality vulnerable to data leaks. Also, often the treatments you take based on your addictions, the feedbacks for those are shared with your employer that might take a toll at your employment in a particular organization. Therefore, confidentiality becomes a big concern when it comes to employee assistance programs.

These were some of the cons that we believe overpower the benefits that the Employee Assistance Program in Bangalore has to offer. They are only put up for the benefit of the employee, but due to the reasons mentioned above, it becomes crucial for both the employee and employer to think about the practice. However, as far as our views are concerned, we believe that everything in this world comes associated with risks, and so are the EAPs. But the benefits offered are crucial to living a healthy life and thus, shall not be overlooked at any cost.