May 13, 2008

Workforce

The Benefit of Counsel

Prompted by the national mortgage mess and myriad other legal issues that people face, more employers are offering legal resources to employees. ComPsych, a Chicago-based employee assistance provider that offers a legal information and referral service, says that the number of real estate-related legal questions it received has doubled over the past year.

“The legal service is the second-most used offering we have with most clients today,” says Adam Gotskind, director of LegalConnect, ComPysch’s legal information and referral service.

Giving employees easy access to attorneys can help them focus on work, which helps both the employee and the company. Having integrated services can further alleviate employee problems. For instance, it’s not unusual that an employee who is seeking an attorney because of a possible foreclosure may actually need to speak to a financial adviser as well, Gotskind says. “If someone calls about a foreclosure, we won’t automatically transfer them to a lawyer. We will first have them speak to a financial professional to see if it is a problem that can be addressed through credit counseling.”