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Employee Assistance Program
The goal of the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) is to assist employees to deal with personal problems which are affecting or have the potential to affect their work performance.
• Employee Responsibilities
• Supervisor Responsibilities
• Referrals
• Warning Signs
Barbara A. Nimco and Associates Inc. provides consultation, assessment, personal counselling and/or referral services where required, during regular working hours, evenings, days off or weekends. EAP features include:
- Prompt Response
- Flexible Hours
- Confidentiality
- Availability in all Yukon communities
This is a professional counseling and consulting service which the Public Service Commission offers to employees. Its purpose is to provide confidential assistance to employees who are experiencing problems which have the potential of affecting their work and personal lives.
Up to five visits to an EAP counsellor are available to Government of Yukon employees, employees' family members, and retirees (who reside within the Yukon, for a period not exceeding six months following retirement).
Confidentiality of information is vital to the effectiveness of the program. People must be assured that any problem will be treated in full confidence and that the confidential nature of records related to the program will be preserved.
Contact information:
Barbara A. Nimco & Associates
(867) 668-4058 or 668-3277, collect calls are accepted
Email bnimco.eap@klondiker.com.
Employee Rights and Responsibilities 
Both employees and supervisors play important roles in the effective utlization of this service.
- To maintain work performance at an acceptable level.
- To voluntarily seek or accept confidential assistance or advice when deteriorating or impaired work performance is being caused by a personal, health or behavioral problem.
- To cooperate in any treatment program that is established and continue the program to completion.
- An employee who accepts the referral, counseling and rehabilitation available under EAP does so without prejudice to job security.
Supervisory Responsibilities
- Recognize that a problem exists
- Document the facts
- Confront the employee with the facts
- Try to find a solution within the work situation without diagnosing as to where the underlying personal/ behavioral problem exists
- Refer employee to EAP if the problem cannot be resolved in the work situation
- Follow up with EAP advisor re: employee's progress
- Work with EAP advisor in establishing course of action to reintegrate employee into work environment (especially if long-term treatment is involved)
- Monitor the work performance of the employee against clearly established objectives and support him/her in the integration process
Self Referral
If an employee is troubled by a personal, health or behavioral problem, they simply contact the EAP service by telephone or email to begin the process. Employees are responsible for arranging time off with their supervisors if they plan to attend during work hours.
Suggested Referral
If a supervisor observes a problem and begins a process of discovering the root of that problem with the employee, the supervisor may recommend EAP. The employee then makes that first contact with the EAP service.
A Supervisor is not a diagnostician. His or her responsibility is to be aware of job performance and to spot problems early on. The key words to remember in looking at performance are continuing and repeated behaviour.
Steps for Supervisors: Observe, Document, Intervene, Refer
WARNING SIGNS
The following are some of the signs most likely to indicate a personal problem causing work performance to diminish. Look for the reoccurrence of a pattern or dramatic changes in the behaviors.
Absenteeism
- Patterns Monday/Friday absences (especially after pay day)
- Repeated absences 2- 4 days
- Repeated absences 1-2 weeks
- Unauthorized leave
- Excessive sick leave/or medical leave due to accidents
- Higher rate than other employees for flu, colds, backache
- Frequent unscheduled absence (short-term) without medical Excuse
Punctuality
- Tardiness (morning, at break, lunch)
- Leaving work early with or without permission
- Late arriving at meetings
- Explanations
- Peculiar or increasingly improbable excuses
- Is "sleeping in"
On-the-job Absenteeism
- Absent from post frequently
- Frequent trips to water fountain / bathroom
- Long coffee breaks or meal breaks
- Physical illness at work
- Frequent personal phone calls
- Frequent personal visitors or visits with other employees
- Wide swings in morale
- Frequent temper loss
- Friction with co-workers - others resentful
- Co-workers' performance diminished
- Avoidance of co-workers, increasingly isolated
- Borrows money from co-workers
- Vague, disconnected speech or writing
- Verbal denial of any performance problem
Supervisors
- Let safety standards slip
- Begin issuing contradictory orders instructions to employees
- Use employee time and skills inappropriately
- Incomplete reports
Managers
- Budget mismanagement
- Schedules uncoordinated
- Agency fails to deliver services
- Decision making incomplete/using only partial data
Quality of work
- Concentration, work requires more effort
- Jobs take more time
- Inability to cope with unexpected change in routine
- Difficulty in recalling events/instructions /details/dates
- Difficulty in handling complex assignments
- Difficulty in recalling own mistakes
- Constant repetition of same subject at meetings, especially if point not important
- Overly cautious and slow
Work Pattern
- Spasmodic: alternate periods of high/low productivity
- Misses deadlines, reports sent in late
- Mistakes due to inattention/poor judgement
- Wastes material
- Makes poor decisions
- Tenacity to job - doesn't change easily
- Complaints from public
- Improbable excuse for poor performance
- Working late or more obsessively than usual
- Makes safe choices not the best ones
Accidents
- On the job/off the job accidents
- Becomes safety hazard to him/herself and others
- Frequent trips to nurse/first aid
- Covers up for accidents rather than openly assuming responsibility for them
Behavior
- Obvious abnormal behavior
- Degeneration of personal grooming habits
- Overreaction to real/imagined criticism
If there is any doubt or concern, contact the EAP service for advice.
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