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Much attention has focused on the benefits of employee assistance programmes (EAPs) to companies. However, there has been little research and evaluation of how counselling affects employees who use an EAP. Focuses on a questionnaire study to evaluate present and former clients′ views of the counselling contract itself; the counsellor who dealt with the problem, and the outcome of the counselling.

Employee Assistance Programmes cannot function without supervisor co‐operation. Personal experiences of an EAP consultant in Australia and the USA are drawn on to describe case studies of success in developing supervisor and management commitment to EAP. Some of the techniques used are outlined: custom designing of supervisory training; identifying employee problems on the basis of job performance issues; consultation with supervisors prior to employee referrals to EAP, ongoing consultation as follow‐up; monitoring of employee performance on the job.

Increasingly there is a demand for information on the effectiveness of Employee Assistance Programmes (EAPs) and counselling in the workplace. EAPs need to be evaluated to ascertain the extent to which they reach their objectives and to find ways to improve effectiveness. Discusses the pros and cons of assessment methods such as questionnaires and the use of a comparison group to act as a control group for research purposes. Considers the importance of maintaining confidentiality during research as this is a cornerstone of any successful EAP. Covers the practical problems of evaluation at an organizational level and use of available data; and the difficulties of establishing and maintaining rapport with management and programme personnel.

Examines current operational practice in the UK oil industry in relation to employee assistance programmes (EAPs) ‐ a voluntary and confidential workplace counselling and support service. Suggests that the industry contains a high number of potential stressors relating to the environment in which it operates, the nature of the work itself, and the potentially hazardous journey to the workplace. Describes a case‐study methodological approach using semi‐structured in‐depth interviews. The results indicate that EAPs have been initiated as part of health programmes within the firms and that economic factors have not played a significant part. The usage of the service has been surprisingly low compared to other empirical findings. Little examination or evaluation has been undertaken. No firm could therefore quantify success and firms did not consider this necessary as long as some use was being made of the service.

Starts from the premisses that stress at work is a significant and costly problem, and that the challenge for companies is to manage work stress in order to reduce health‐care costs and improve productivity. Suggests that this challenge can be met by greater collaboration among company departments, bringing expertise from different areas to bear on the problem. Describes the conceptual basis for such collaboration and presents a case study of an ongoing partnership between an employee assistance programme and a human resource management group.

Education, training, retraining, and employee development have long been part of the American hope and the American dream. They have helped pave the road to middle class life, contributed to the productivity and efficiency of the firm and of the economy, proven of value in facilitating social and geographic mobility, improved the social and political fabric, promoted the welfare of groups and enhanced the quality of individual life.

Outlines German experience of dealing with workplace alcoholism by a preventive approach. Programmes are usually companybased, have defined aims relating to public relations, motivation of staff and development and implementation of assistance to employees with dependence problems. Programming may involve individuals or groups (sometimes study groups). Opposition by superiors and a company culture with a positive attitude to alcohol are the major problems. Programmes must be long‐term and ways of developing them in response to change are outlined.

An in‐depth, qualitative study of managers and accountants in a large Australian metropolitan banking organisation investigated the problems experienced by those responsible for the implementation of their organisation′s Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) guidelines. Two major elements were found to work against the EAP′s comfortable integration, and hence its utilisation, in the organisation. These related to the supervisor′s role in the diagnosis of alcohol‐related poor performance and the early intervention objective of the EAP. Findings are discussed in relation to their implications for successful implementation of EAPs, notably the need for the tailoring of EAP guidelines to make them compatible with existing organisational systems (e.g. formal and informal performance appraisal procedures) as well as with managerial practices normal to the organisation′s culture.

Employee Assistance Programmes are explained and their potential in meeting the concerns of female employees is described in the framework of the issues confronting working women in the US. Employee Assistance Programmes and women in the workforce are both relatively recent occurrences. Women began entering the workforce en masse at the turn of the century. Employee Assistance Programmes began in the United States in the early 1940s, but have only developed and been adopted in the 1970s and 1980s. The ways in which they offer a special source of support and help to women in the workforce are explored. Although some of the content may not be relevant to women in Great Britain, in the authors′ opinions the readers will probably see more similarities than differences since a woman′s role is, for the most part, universal.

Myths have been created about the value of Employee Assistance Programmes (EAP). An experienced practitioner examines seven: that to be independent or confidential the EAP must be provided by an external agency not answerable to Personnel; that EAPs usurp a manager′s responsibilities for staff; that stress is inescapable in modern life and the company has no right or wish to interfere in its employees′ personal lives; that admitting to stress‐related problems leaves an employee sidelined as a failure; that an EAP may permanently change management style and employee attitudes in a way that traditional means cannot; that EAP is just welfare under another name.