Treading Carefully on EAPs

Robert Christenson, chair of the Employee Benefits Practice Group, was quoted in the February 1 Employee Benefit Adviser article "Treading Carefully on EAPs." The article noted that 69% of employers offer employee assistance programs through external organizations. That doesn't insulate the employers from potential legal liabilities. Bob said that employers' EAP concerns generally center around two things. First they want to ensure they comply with applicable laws which Bob said can be multi-faceted. "There's an intersection here between HIPAA, ADA, FMLA, and everything else." Second, there's the safety side of things. "The other concern the employer has is that they have some duty to protect their other employees and the general public from somebody that's out there, who maybe shouldn't be operating a truck or some other kind of situation that the employer could potentially be vicariously liable for."