Trust, relationships and support. For the past 40 years, these three words have been the cornerstone upon which we’ve built our workforce resilience business and grown our family, which now includes hundreds of customers and millions of employees and family members. Together we have weathered many storms and supported each other to strengthen our businesses, our teams, our families and our communities.
But today we are all experiencing something quite different from the norm—something many of us have never seen or felt before. And because of this, it has never been more important than it is today for your Employee Assistance Program to be there for you, and for you and your employees to become better acquainted with and rely on this important benefit.
EAPs were designed to provide employees with the support they need to overcome obstacles in their daily life, and to build and maintain resilience moving forward. During this unprecedented time as employers and employees manage the challenges and changes that COVID-19 presents, please encourage your employees to take advantage of their EAP, which can help them manage the uncertainty and anxiety surrounding the coronavirus; achieve work-life balance as the virus impacts school-age children or elderly parents; and cope with financial uncertainties as businesses face slowdowns or are forced to close.
At FEI, we are here for you as we have been for the past 40 years. Our EAP Services Center is capable of and has been working completely remotely for multiple weeks. We have surveyed all our business partners and service vendors (counselors, legal, and financial professionals) and they, too, have business continuity plans in place and are ready and able to continue their support.
As face-to-face counseling becomes restricted or unavailable, more counselors have agreed to and begun to shift to tele-counseling. Today, telephone or video counseling is available in all 50 states. Should a client currently be working with a counselor through the EAP, and they both agree to conduct support services remotely, FEI will authorize that service under their EAP benefit.
Your employees’ EAP website, feieap.com, is constantly updated with information and helpful tips for managing during this challenging time. Please encourage your employees to visit the website and use it as another resource. We are and will continue to be here for you and them as needed.
These are challenging times, I know. But it is during these challenges that we need to support and strengthen each other even more. Regardless of who your EAP partner is today, please reach out and encourage your employees and their families to rely on this resource, now and in the future.
Please take care of yourselves during these crazy times and control those things that you can control that have an immediate impact: Be safe at home, wash your hands, and when you go out for exercise or essential goods, maintain a good social distance.
Be well and thank you for trusting us and partnering with us.