Leveraging Your EAP to Reduce your Workers' Compensation Costs

Many employers add an employee assistance program to their benefit roster and that's the last time they think of it. If you prompt them, they may talk about the broad array of services that the EAP offers to help employees address their personal problems. They'll probably describe the EAP as a valuable employee benefit.

But classifying your EAP as simply a benefit for employees is limiting its full potential. A good EAP should be a vital tool in helping your organization to enhance productivity and reduce costs. Nowhere can this be more evident than in your workers compensation and disability management programs.  A good EAP can support employees during the recovery process to ensure they get back to their normal life as quickly as possible.

At ESI Employee Assistance Group, we understand workers compensation and the important role that an EAP can play in helping the employee expedite recovery while also helping the organization reduce overall workers' compensation costs. After a work injury, the fundamental goal should be to get the employee back to good health and productivity as soon as possible. It's important to help them resume their normal life, including return to work, so that they do not fall into a debilitating disability syndrome.

The workers' comp challenge is two-fold. First, reducing the number of injuries that occur at work, and second, minimizing the time away from work if injuries do occur. All too often, employees are away from work far longer than the injuries require.

And that's where the EAP and workers' comp connect.

The EAP and Workers' Compensation Link

At ESI, we've learned how to leverage EAP services to benefit your workers comp loss mitigation efforts. There are three key elements to an effective workers' comp cost control program:

    * An aggressive injury prevention effort

    * Immediate medical treatment by quality providers who understand workers' compensation

    * An active return to work and transitional duty program

The first component in your program should be to prevent any injuries from occurring. While some injuries are the result of work site hazards, many injuries can be traced to unsafe behavior.  Substance abuse is frequently a be a contributing factor - the U.S. Department of Labor's data suggests that upwards of 40 percent of all workplace injuries involve alcohol or illegal drugs. And employees who are distracted with personal problems will be more susceptible to injuries. At any given time, one out of five of your workers is struggling with a significant life issue such as depression, stress, medical issues, or family problems.  A good EAP can help employees to successfully deal with these problems before they result in harm to the employee, to coworkers and to your organization.

The second component in your program is your supervisors. When an injury occurs, the way that the employee is handled and the steps that are taken can set the tone and trajectory for the events that will follow, and your supervisors hold the key. With ESI, we offer your managers and supervisors support and a full array of resources.

The third component in your program is return to work.  When injured workers have extended disability, all too often unresolved personal problems rather than medical problems are standing in the way of recovery. Personal issues are frequently barriers that keep people from returning to work and resuming their normal life in a timely fashion. Issues such as depression, family problems, debt and substance abuse are the main contributors to extended disability. A good EAP will help employees to deal with any problems, while also addressing the psychological and mental challenges of recovery.

Why aren't more employers harnessing their EAP for help with workers' comp?

A good employee assistance program can address both pre- and post-injury issues. Why aren't more organizations using their EAPs more effectively to minimize disability?

Often, the reason comes down to organizational silos. Responsibility for the workers' compensation program often falls under the purview of the CFO or the risk management department while responsibility for and the EAP resides with the human resource department.  Rarely is there one person or one department handling both.

Another reason is that many EAPs simply do not have a thorough knowledge or understanding of workers compensation, a complex insurance system with different laws in all 50 states. And, finally, all too often the employer limits the usefulness of the EAP because it is "typecast" as simply a nice benefit, but not a strategic business partner to improve productivity and reduce costs.

At ESI, we have seen many employers integrate the EAP into their risk management efforts with extraordinary results. One large self insurance group has experienced an overall drop of more than 40% in claims. We believe that we have just begun to scratch the surface of how to make the EAP an effective cost containment tool and are working to make it even more effective.

Clearly, an EAP can be an effective tool in your overall workers' comp program. You and your EAP just have to know how to do it right.

From ESI Employee Assistance Group