Employee Services > Benefits and HR Managers > Resources > What PBH can do for HR

 

PENN Behavioral Health’s Employee Assistance Program, can become more than a voluntary or confidential counseling service when there is a safety risk involved. The program works with human resources to provide services for early intervention with troubled employees who exhibit behaviors which may be performance related or jeopardize the health and safety of others or the workplace. In these instances, your EAP benefit includes the following:


1. Management Consultation - PENN Behavioral Health offers telephonic consultation with Human Resources Representatives who are facing difficult situations with troubled employees either individually or as a group. The consultation, which may include the manager, provides guidance for resourcing employees or groups with suggestions of counseling assistance and materials. (FOR EXAMPLE: A Human Resources Generalist may be facing a conflict between two employees creating a disruption of the workplace. Neither employee has individual performance issues but together they are causing a problem at the work site.)


2. Informal Resourcing - PENN Behavioral Health provides Human Resources Representatives with the ability to make general informal resourcing to troubled employees who are indicating they are experiencing personal problems or who have performance problems which may be due to personal issues which are effecting their work. Informal resourcing consist of giving the employees information regarding the PENN Behavioral Health’s program and encouraging them to seek help privately and confidentially. (FOR EXAMPLE: An employee’s performance is slowly declining and they are indicating they have personal family problems causing them some stress and anxiety. They were not aware of the EAP resources for themselves or their family.)


3. Exit Interview Resourcing - PENN Behavioral Health Provides Human Resources Representatives with the ability to make general informal resourcing to employees who are being terminated. (FOR EXAMPLE: This can be done during the termination notification – by Human Resources alone, by the EAP representative who can be called in when needed, or by the EAP representative who serves as a part of the formal process of termination)


4. Formal Referrals - There may be situations where an employee’s performance or behaviors exceed acceptable levels and the manager may be in the position of needing to exert disciplinary measures. The PENN Behavioral Health program is not in any way connected with disciplinary actions and the manager should contact Human Resources to see if a formal referral for the employee is appropriate for the situation. (FOR EXAMPLE: An employee’s behavior is disruptive or upsetting to the other employees. A formal referral may also be used whenever the employee represents a potential threat to the safety of the work site such as violating safety rules or company policies.)


5. Mandatory Referrals – There are four situations in which a mandatory referral may be necessary. They are: aberrant behavior, substance abuse, impairment, and violence. In these situations the EAP may only be a conduit to higher levels of care such as detoxification, rehabilitation, psychiatric evaluation, or confinement. In other cases the EAP may provide the full services of assessment, counseling and/or referrals. (FOR EXAMPLE: An employee appears to be impaired or is showing signs of violent behavior upsetting the other employees. A mandatory referral may be used whenever the employee represents a direct threat to the safety of the work site.)


6. Immediate Resourcing - There are situations where an employee needs immediate assistance to deal with a personal problem because they are in crisis. The Human Resources Representative and manager can call the EAP and speak with the counselor regarding how to immediately help the troubled employee. The manager might be instructed to encourage the employee to immediately speak with the counselor (FOR EXAMPLE: An employee might receive news of a death in their family and may become extremely upset or despondent or may be in a personal crisis where they are talking about taking some drastic actions.)


7. Critical Incident Stress Debriefings - PENN Behavioral Health has a complete staff of professional counselors who are skilled in providing on-site critical incident debriefings. These are offered to groups of individuals who have gone through a traumatic event which has caused them some emotional problems. Human Resource Representatives are encouraged to offer these to managers for their employees within 48 hours of the situation or as soon as possible to help them cope with the crisis. The manager and Human Resource Representative together should call the EAP to discuss the situation and suggest this possibility for the employees. (SOME EXAMPLES: A death has occurred within the department which has had a major impact on the other employees. An accident has occurred on the site which has resulted in a fatality or threatened the safety of the other employees. A violent episode has unfolded between two individuals and been witnessed by other employees who are upset. A major change is occurring on the work site which is hard for some employees to accept and they feel they need some emotional support.)


8. Specific Training Programs or Series – Over thirty different training and wellness programs have been developed by PENN Behavioral Health for both general audiences and specific departments or groups. These wellness seminars can be requested by Human Resource Representatives for either employee or management groups depending on the need. Each program is then customized for the particular situation the individuals or department is facing. In addition, seminars that are relevant to larger groups of individuals can be developed along specific topics of interest or need. (FOR EXAMPLE: Work/Life Seminars can be developed around the topics of single parenting, building self-esteem with children, domestic violence, retirement support, and elder care issues.)

 


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What PENN Behavioral Health can do for Human Resources (pdf)