What is an International Employee Assistance Programme?

The setup of a Global Employee Assistance Program, or Expatriate Employee Assistance Program is straightforward in itself. The chosen service provider will get everything set up for you quickly, and provide all the necessary documentation and contact information that should be disseminated to the employees. 

A good employee communication plan is important to support rollout, however. As an expert international insurance consultant, Engage Health Group can help support your communication strategy and guide you through the whole set-up process.

A study by the Mental Health Foundation found that 78% of employees miss work due to mental health concerns, with 34% missing work for two months or more.

Stress Related Absence has a significant impact on productivity and the below chart, recorded over a 10-year period by a major UK Income Protection provider, demonstrates the important role that early intervention plays.

When an episode of stress-related absence receives intervention at week four, the average total length of absence is 24.3 weeks. Whereas when the intervention is received between 21-25 weeks, the average total length of absence is over 55 weeks.

An expat employee will experience additional stress through relocating themselves, and also potentially their family. With the high cost involved in expatriate assignments, there is an even stronger rationale to promote your International Employee Assistance Programme effectively. Early signs of mental health issues can be detected and addressed before they become a serious problem.

Read our latest article on expats mental health during the covid pandemic (William Russell Data)

Businesses with an existing expatriate population, or a business looking to implement expat assignments for the first time, should strongly consider establishing an International Employee Assistance Programme (IEAP), or specialised Expat Employee Assistance Programme.

The first consideration is the duty of care a business has to an employee they send out on international assignment. For the vast majority of employees, taking on an expat assignment is a big life choice. It effects not only themselves but their friends and loved ones. The move will require the employee to adjust to a new culture, new laws and customs, new colleagues, a new residence, unfamiliar tax rules and countless other things that they will need to adapt to.

Clearly, an employer sending a member of staff on assignment has a duty of care to ensure that the employee is supported as far as possible. This can help them settle more quickly, but also protect them against any worst-case scenarios.

There are many things for an employer to consider. However, supporting an expat with a confidential support service and assisting with a broad range of issues, both in, and out, of work, should be one of the first things on the list.

It’s also worth thinking of the cold, hard business case. Expatriate assignments are a significant investment for any business and expat failure could mean tens, or even hundreds of thousands, in lost expenditure. Two of the main reasons why expat assignments fail include an inability to settle and achieve optimal productivity. Both of these could be prevented with early intervention by some of the support services offered by an International Employee Assistance Programme, or particularly an Expat Employee Assistance Programme. The latter are specifically focused on supporting expat employees settle and thrive in their assignment.

It’s certainly the important first step. But if employers wish to get the most return on their investment and genuinely support their workforce, then promoting the service in the right way and offering it as part of a broader International Employee Benefits strategy is key.

All Global EAP providers will provide supporting literature, such as posters and leaflets, which can be displayed in common areas to spread the word, but employers can go further still. 

Many employers now incorporate the International EAP service as part of their management training to ensure that staff are reminded of its features during performance conversations and other one-to-ones. 

Keep in mind that direct managers are often the first to notice a change in employee behaviour and are usually best placed to guide people to the service. 

Finally, whilst the use of an International Employee Assistance Programme by employees is confidential, many iEAP providers offer ‘meaningful management information’ to the employer, which can assist in understanding which risks are most prominent within their business. I.e. management can see anonymised usage trends and insights.

This is extremely useful as it empowers the employer to deploy resources more appropriately, ensuring that any health and wellbeing budget is being spent in the correct areas.

Implementing a successful Global Employee Assistance Programme can deliver a range of benefits, including:

• Improved employee turnover and attrition
• Lower rates of expat failure
• Improved rates of absenteeism and presenteeism
• Better rates of productivity

While many of the actual features are similar, the key difference is the global audience that an International EAP supports.

The International EAP providers often have an international footprint themselves, plus a global network of counselling services enabling face-to-face support to employees anywhere in the world. The centralised call centres they operate can also handle calls in multiple languages equipped with a deep understanding of cultural differences that are an important consideration in addressing personal and work issues.

Aside from these practical considerations, a global EAP will provide technology, documentation and promotional materials in multiple languages.

There are Global Employee Assistance Programme providers who have no minimum number of employees or expatriates. Do consider, however, that EAP’s have a banded pricing model. If you are planning to roll it out to one or two members, the cost per-head will be higher if the band extends to, say, ten employees. This is because the price is the same for any number of employees within that headcount band.

If you are considering purchasing International Health Insurance with a built-in International EAP, then the minimum number of employees is three for most International Medical Insurance providers. 

One study conducted by a leading International Employee Assistance Programme provider, looked at the impact an International EAP can make on lost time and productivity for an employee working eight hours a day, 152 hours per month. They found that:

• Hours of missed work reduced from 7.36 hours without an EAP intervention, to 3.86 hours.
• Lost productivity time reduced from 62 hours without EAP intervention to 45 hours, saving 2.1 days of productive time.

Global Employee Assistance Programme’s consistently deliver a solid return-on-investment. This is partly due to its relatively low cost and the broad level of support it offers. One specific study by an International EAP provider looked at the impact of early intervention counselling services vs a three-month period of continued distress. It found that for every $1 invested, the employer was able to generate circa $3:37 in value.

• Actively promote and drive engagement of the services available.
• Reassure employees of the confidentiality of the service.
• Understand the needs of different target groups, including: expatriates, local national, line managers and HR among others.
• Secure senior leadership support and appoint internal champions
• Review, evaluate and adjust when needed 

Yes, a Global Employee Assistance Programme is completely confidential. Nothing is fed back to the employers that could in any way be traced back to any individual.