Benefits of an EAP
Employee Assistance Professionals Association
2101 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 500
Arlington, Virginia 22201
U.S.A.

  1. For every dollar they invest in an EAP, employers generally save anywhere from $5 to $16.

  2. General Motors Corporation's EAP saves the company $37 million per year-$3,700 for each of the 10,000 employees enrolled in the program.Source: Substance Abuse: A Guide to Workplace Issues. ASIS O.P. Norton Information Resources Center (1990)

  3. United Airlines estimated that it gets a $16.95 return for every dollar invested in employee assistance.Source: Substance Abuse: A Guide to Workplace Issues ASIS O.P. Norton Information Resources Center (1990)

  4. The City of Los Angeles Department of Water and Power reported a savings of $350,000 over a five-year period in reduced sickness absenteeism for employees with alcohol problems. Source: "Taking Inventory," published in the EAPA Exchange, (July 1992), EAP Association

  5. A small company (70 employees) reduced its workers' compensation and vehicular accident cost by $75,000 by establishing an EAP with an emphasis on safety awareness. Source Substance Abuse Prevention: It's Your Business. Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, U.S.Department of Health and Human Services (1992)

  6. Studies done at Crestar Bank showed that average psychiatric costs were 58 percent less for EAP participants compared with those who did not use the EAP. EAP participants had an average of 8.8 sessions compared to 13.1 sessions for the non-EAP group. The average cost of $45 per session resulted in a savings of $193 per outpatient case.Source: Presentation at Georgia Tech by S. Davis. (1993) Personal Performance Consultants (Atlanta)

  7. Marsh and McLennan Companies reported evidence of savings believed to have been achieved by businesses through drug-free workplace programs that included EAPS. Evidence included the following: a reduction of on-the-job accidents and lost time as a result of such accidents at Tropicana; an estimated $1,750 savings per employee at Warner Corporation because of lower recruitment and training costs, lower workers' compensation costs, and fewer on-the-job accidents; a 75 percent reduction in in-hospital alcohol and other drug abuse treatment costs at Gillette Company; a reduction in absenteeism and workers' compensation insurance costs at Sawyer Gas Company and at Oregon Steel Mills. Source: The Economics of Drug-Free Workplace Programs. Marsh and McLennan Companies (1994)

  8. A study of 122 staff who used the EAP at the University of Michigan showed that the university saved a minimum of $65,341 over a five-year period for those employees because of improved retention rates and reduced sick leave. The study showed strong evidence that those employees who used the EAP services took less sick leave and were retained in the work force for longer periods of time than the overall staff. Source: "Michigan Study Shows EAP Clients Use Less Sick Leave, Stay Longer," by Keith Brubnsen, MSW, CEAP, published in the EAPA Exchange, (August 1994), EAP Association

  9. Up to 68 percent of all workers will, at some time, experience workplace problems severe enough to prevent them from coping with day-to-day duties. Source: "Not just a Handout, " by James Tittemore, published in the CA magazine (August 1994)

  10. A study performed at Southern California Edison to determine the impact of EAP case management on healthcare claims filed by employees with substance abuse problems showed that the EAP's approach was more effective at reducing overall healthcare claims costs than the company's health plan alone. Source: "The Value of EAP Case Management, " by Patrick Conlin, Thomas M. Amaral, and Kirk Harlow, published in EAPA Exchange, (May/June 1996), EAP Association.

Why Employers and Employees Need
Employee Assistance Programs
Employee Assistance Professionals Association
2101 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 500
Arlington, Virginia 22201
U.S.A.

  1. Because of substance abuse: Up to 40 percent of industrial fatalities and 47 percent of industrial injuries can be linked to alcohol consumption and alcoholism. Source: "Management Perspectives on Alcoholism," by M. Bernstein and J.J. Mahoney, published in Occupational Medicine (1989) 70 percent of all current adult illegal drug users are employed. Source NIDA Capsules, National Institute on Drug Abuse (June 1990)

  2. Because of untreated depression and other mental health issues in the employed: A 1993 study estimated that the economic burden of depression in 1990 was $44 billion; 55 percent of that amount was attributed to workplace costs, including absenteeism and reductions in productivity. Source:Greenberg et al., Journal of Clinical Psychology, (1993) Data collected for a 1991 study by the D/ART National Worksite Program showed that at the First National Bank of Chicago, 40 percent of all referrals to the EAP during one year were for depression. At Wells Fargo Bank, 30 percent of respondents to a survey reported symptoms of depression. Source "Depression: Corporate Perspectives and Innovations" by Washington Business Group on Health In a 1995 seminar on recognizing depression in the workplace, 12.7 percent of DuPont Company employees said they suffered from anxiety/depression at the beginning of the seminar. After the seminar was presented, 19.8 percent of the same group said they suffered from anxiety/depression. Source "Beyond Stress" by Crystal Simms, EAPA Exchange, September/October 1996.

  3. Because of violence in the workplace: The occurrence of domestic violence is high and probably underreported with 1 wife or child in 21 being physically abused 3 to 4 times per year. The greatest problem regarding women, violence, and employment is the response of the organization to violence against women. Source "Women at Risk: Crucial Violence Prevention Concerns for Female Employees," by Beverly Younger, LCSW, published in EAPA Exchange, May 1995 Violence in the workplace is caused by a variety of factors, including job stress, job-related conflict, layoffs and firings, alcohol and drug abuse, accessibility of weapons, and domestic problems carried over from the home. Source Attorney General Janet Reno in a 1995 presentation to an EAPA conference entitled "Responding to Workplace Critical Incidents"

  4. Because of a culturally diverse work force: In the 1990s, the number of minority workers will jump by over nine percent for a total of 30 percent of all employees. In the year 2000, projections show that 80 percent of the work force will be composed of nonwhite, females, and immigrants.Source: "Minorities 2000: The Shape of Things to Come," by Marilyn Foxworth-Kern, published in Public Relations Journal, August 1989

  5. Because of work and family issues: Nearly three times as many employers offer child care benefits today as in 1988. Source: Society for Human Resource Management (1992) "Not only are the elderly, those 65 years old and older, increasing as a percentage of the population but also the eldest portion, those over 85, is increasing faster than any other segment. More and more often we are seeing seventy-year-olds trying to care for their parents, who are in their nineties."Source: William Benson, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services for Aging at a 1996 conference on "The Aging of America: Issues and Answers."






Duke Occupational Mental Health Programs
Duke Employee Assistance Program, a component of Duke OMHP
Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
Department of Community and Family Medicine