Drug Rehab and Employee Assistance Programs

If you need a drug rehab program and your employer sponsors an Employee Assistance Program, you can get the help you need right away without any fear of reprisal- and usually without financial worry. These programs offer a number of distinct benefits for employees, including providing assistance with getting help for drug addiction or alcoholism. Employee Assistance Programs are also called Member Assistance Programs when part of a Union and thousands of US companies offer them. However, few employees are aware of what the programs offer, and even fewer know that you can use them to get help for addiction.

Many people never reach out for help because they fear losing their job or career should their employer find out. But with an Employee Assistance Program, employees seeking help for addiction or alcoholism in most cases can expect to do so without fear of penalty by the employer. These types of programs are specifically designed to protect employees in this precise situation, because anything less could prevent someone from getting the help they need.

Employee Assistance Programs can provide an immense benefit to someone who is suffering from addiction or alcoholism. Many of these services can make a great deal of the necessary arrangements, including the handling of all insurance paperwork and communication, arranging for transportation, storage, pet care and many other items. The general idea is to provide a way for people to concentrate on getting the right help instead of worrying about all of the details and logistics.

EAPs and MAPs can also help you find the right drug rehab center and addiction treatment professionals. This is especially important because the level of treatment you engage- residential inpatient, intensive outpatient or partial hospitalization- depends greatly upon your personal situation and needs. Therefore, having a resource like an Employee Assistance Program can prove of extreme value.

Employers and Unions provide assistance programs because they recognize the value of the investment they have made in their employees or workers. The general idea is that people who suffer from addiction or alcoholism are suffering from a disease that is no different than any other and therefore treatment should be made available without penalty. Employers that truly care about their people recognize that addiction or alcoholism is not the end of the road for a person and instead see it as a bump on the way to success. Addicts and alcoholics would do well to share this view.

Because each employer or union is different, the process to use an EAP or MAP to get help for addiction may vary from place to place. Often a person should put in a request through an official in the Human Resources or similar department. However, some large employers have one or two people who are solely responsible for running this program. For people who are looking to find out more information, check your benefits handbook (or online) to see if there is a hotline number to call for drug addiction help.

If you need help for addiction or alcoholism, find out what your employer offers and then take action. Protecting your career is important, but when it comes to addiction it’s really about protecting your own life.