June 23, 2008

Business Insurance

U.S. Companies Take EAPs Abroad

As more employers take advantage of the global economy and expand their operations abroad, many are choosing to take their employee assistance programs with them.

International EAPs have been around for years, beginning with U.S.-based companies extending the same behavioral health and substance abuse benefits to expatriates — mainly in Europe — as they did to their employees in the United States. Now, many multinational companies are looking to expand their EAPs to other parts of the world and offer a wider array of services to expatriates as well as their local workforces.

But with such expansions come challenges, experts say. “You need to understand your global workforce, the location where you are operating and what their needs and challenges are, because one size doesn’t fit all,” said Paul Kohlenbrener, vice president of global development for ComPsych Corp. in Chicago, which offers international EAP services. “They need to customize their program to be relevant in the countries and cultures they are doing business in, because it doesn’t make sense to provide services to people who aren’t going to use it.”