Feds: How confidential is EAP?

[Anonymous]

I have a co-worker/friend going through a very difficult time, including divorce and loss of a parent. I have encouraged her to find help. She is very reluctant to go to outside counseling. Should I steer her towards our agency's EAP program? She is afraid her problems will come back to the office somehow. Anyone have experience good or bad to share? Please advise.

[Anonymous]

I am a private attorney who represents federal employees. I am a strong advocate of EAP. It is one of the few federal benefit programs that I don't have serious complaints about! They take the confidentiality VERY seriously. The only thing that could conceivably get out is the fact of using EAP, but nothing at all about what is discussed during sessions is revealed. In most cases, no federal employee even has access to those files.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a private attorney who represents federal employees. I am a strong advocate of EAP. It is one of the few federal benefit programs that I don't have serious complaints about! They take the confidentiality VERY seriously. The only thing that could conceivably get out is the fact of using EAP, but nothing at all about what is discussed during sessions is revealed. In most cases, no federal employee even has access to those files.

I have found just the opposite in two private companies where supervisors, GM's, and VP somehow know what an employee has discussed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a private attorney who represents federal employees. I am a strong advocate of EAP. It is one of the few federal benefit programs that I don't have serious complaints about! They take the confidentiality VERY seriously. The only thing that could conceivably get out is the fact of using EAP, but nothing at all about what is discussed during sessions is revealed. In most cases, no federal employee even has access to those files.

I have found just the opposite in two private companies where supervisors, GM's, and VP somehow know what an employee has discussed.

I don't doubt that is true, but there are some instances in which the federal government is just different. For one thing, the Privacy Act does not apply to private companies. Agencies are terrified of getting hit with a Privacy Act violation, so they tend to take these matters a little more seriously.

[Anonymous]

I used it after looking into it; the fed EAP is as confidential as it gets for these things.

[Anonymous]

As its weakest link.

[Anonymous]

I run an EAP at a federal agency, and assure you that these programs are absolutely confidential. Short of a court order or signed release, no information about a person's participation in the program can be released to anyone. It is actually more confidential than going to a counselor utilizing your health insurance, because there is no record of utilizing the EAP on your health insurance records.