International Employee Assistance Programme

What is an International Employee Assistance Programme? 

An International Employee Assistance Programme (iEAP) is designed to help staff handle emotional stresses and strains inside and outside of the workplace. Staff can access support through a mobile or desktop app, making services easy to reach from just about anywhere in the world.

While there are many digital tools designed to support employee wellbeing, an iEAP differs in that it also provides one-to-one support from mental health professionals.  

What’s included in a Global Employee Assistance Programme? 

Levels of support offered can vary depending on the provider, but the kind of support you can expect includes: 

• Confidential support services (24 hours-a-day, 365 days-a-year)
• Counselling services and CBT 
• Legal support
• Financial advice services
• Childcare support
• Work-life balance management tools
• Stress support
• Relationship support
• Anxiety and depression support
• Life transition tools 
• Emotional support – for grief, trauma and loss
• Multi-lingual capabilities
• Global access
• Employer support to handle critical incidents/sudden traumatic workplace incidents 
• Data confidentiality 
• Employer access to staff engagement statistics to measure what’s being used and how much

How much do iEAPs cost? 

As always, landing on a specific price point for a healthcare product isn’t quite so simple – it ultimately depends on the size of the workforce and the features you choose to include. But to give you an idea, average costs work out between £5 and £15 per person according to the UK Employee Assistance Professionals Association.

Price points are influenced by a range of factors, including:

• Number of employees: products are designed for different sized workforces
• Location of employees: it’s more expensive to provide iEAPs in different parts of the world e.g., services in Scandinavia will be pricier than in India 
• Features included: the more features, the higher the cost. 
• Standalone/insurance add-on: iEAPs can be packaged together with a global health insurance or income protection plan. Alternatively, it can be purchased as a product in its own right.

How do you set up an International Employee Assistance Programme? 

As mentioned above, International Employee Assistance Programmes can either be included with an International Business Health Insurance plan (or other global protection plan) or purchased as a standalone product direct from an iEAP provider. 

When included as an add-on, many businesses fail to promote it to their staff. And when that happens, it goes under-used and under-appreciated. Good employee communication is a vital element of setting up any employee benefit or insurance policy! (We can help with that by the way.)

If going for a standalone product, your chosen provider will get everything set up and ready for you and your staff as quickly as possible. They will also provide all the necessary documentation and contact information for your staff. 

An independent broker like Hooray Health & Protection will help guide you through the process of buying and implementing an iEAP. If you need help setting up or reviewing a global benefits scheme, simply contact one of your friendly advisors.

Why buy a global EAP? 

Aside from the wealth of services that can be accessed and the fantastic support iEAPs can offer your employees, there are various reasons why a business might turn to an iEAP:

• The multi-lingual capability provides ensures everyone is supported equally
• Helps your staff feel more capable of dealing with whatever life and work throws at them 
• Reduces staff absence rates by increasing their emotional resilience
• Improves productivity by safeguarding and bolstering employees’ mental wellbeing
• Provides consistent support to all employees wherever they are in the world
• Streamlines support by negating the problem of setting up and managing multiple products, all with different contracts and points of contact
• Costs of iEAPs are often lower compared to a lot of other international benefits or policies 
• Companies with expatriate staff can increase the chances of a successful assignment by helping them better cope with culture shock

Is there a difference between international and domestic EAPs? 

Domestic Employee Assistance Programmes and their international equivalents can offer similar levels of support. But the key difference is the support given to global employees and locations.

A Global Employee Assistance Programme offers the following: 

• A global network of counselling services enabling face-to-face sessions for staff anywhere in the world
• Multi-lingual call centres and counselling professionals with relevant cultural knowledge
• Multi-lingual documentation, technology, platforms and support materials 

How can Hooray Health & Protection help? 

Global EAPs differ in both their price-point and the breadth of services they provide. Some may have strengths in certain territories or industries. We can help you find the right solution by matching your business to an iEAP which best fits your needs. 

We’ll also address how your wider benefits package interacts with your EAP. For example, will it be worth buying a standalone version chock full of services? Or would you be better getting a more basic version as part of a health insurance product?

Hooray Health & Protection have many existing relationships with EAP providers and insurers. But, we do not have a preferred partner. Our goal is to match businesses with the best solutions in the market.  

Contact our friendly and award-winning advisors on 01273 222805 or use the booking function below for a quote or to review any current policy – all advice and guidance is given free of charge and free of contractual obligation.