| Consistent
employee support
U.S. EAP offerings are now standardized;
services include legal, financial counseling
Whether employees need help recovering from traumatic events, advice
on handling day-to-day stress at work, or someone to talk to about family
issues, the Boeing Employee Assistance Program has counselors available
to provide support on a wide range of issues.
| EAP
highlights
The Boeing Employee Assistance Program offers services to
Boeing employees and their dependents (including spouses and
children). The program’s highlights include
• Counseling: Participants
are allowed up to six sessions of counseling—per problem
per year at no cost—for personal issues that can be
resolved within a short-term period.
• Legal and financial
services: Participants can receive up to 30 minutes
per person per issue each year of financial or legal consultation
on a wide range of issues.
• Around-the-clock coverage:
The EAP call center is available 24 hours a day, seven days
a week at 1-866-719-5788. On-site EAP counselors are available
during regular business hours at some locations. Generally,
counseling providers in the community have appointments available
during evening hours.
• Crisis coverage:
While the majority of EAP services relate to issues of everyday
life, the program is available for support in times of tragedy
such as workplace accidents, coworker deaths, and natural
disasters such as floods, hurricanes and wildfires. For example,
in the aftermath of the Space Shuttle Columbia tragedy in
2003, the EAP provided 129 “group trauma debriefings”
at affected sites. More than 1,000 employees attended these
sessions.
For more information, employees may visit the EAP site at
http://eap.web.boeing.com
or call 1-866-719-5788. |
|
EAP support is available to employees throughout Boeing. However, until
recently, there were some differences in eligibility and service offerings
at various locations.
To help standardize the program and expand services, Boeing has arranged
for the organization ValueOptions to provide EAP services for all Boeing
employees living and working in the United States.
Those services include not only short-term counseling and referral for
personal problems, but also legal and financial consultation (see story
at right), as well as resources and information available at the EAP site
on the Boeing Web (http://eap. web.boeing.com).
“One of the key elements of our business strategy is focusing on common
processes and systems,” said Pam French, director of Global Employee Benefits.
“Moving to a single provider for the Employee Assistance Program in the
United States will allow us to offer consistent and broader services,
streamline and standardize the EAP process, and expand eligibility,” French
added.
ValueOptions has been in partnership with Boeing since 1994, when it
began to offer comprehensive EAP services to St. Louis employees. The
organization’s relationship with the company has expanded over the years,
covering half of Boeing employees by 2001.
Many locations have been working with ValueOptions for some time and
will not experience any change as a result of this contract.
However, employees in El Segundo, Torrance and Sylmar, Calif.; Wichita,
Kan.; Philadelphia; and the Puget Sound area of Washington state will
experience some enhancements to EAP services.
| If
you’re outside the United States
The International Employee Assistance Program covers U.S.
employees who are currently on international assignment, as
well as their accompanying dependents. Expatriates can contact
M. Ellen Walsh, program manager of Boeing’s National/International
EAP, by telephone at +1-425-237-3803, or via the Boeing operator;
or by e-mail at mary.e.walsh@boeing.com. |
|
EAP services are available to Boeing employees and their dependents (including
spouses and children). The program offers around-the-clock coverage, and
multiple backup counselors are available for crisis situations.
Since its inception in the mid-1970s, the EAP program has grown significantly.
In 2003, Boeing’s EAP provided more than 14,000 hours of face-to-face
counseling to employees and their dependents.
For complete details, employees may visit the EAP site at http://eap.web.boeing.com
or call 1-866-719-5788.
| How EAP meant
dollars and sense
 “I’m
a believer.” That’s what Loretta Kalibak, an Employee Relations
specialist for Boeing in Southern California, said of the financial
counseling service provided free of charge through the Boeing Employee
Assistance Program. “What I learned using this service saved me
a bundle,” she added.
Kalibak, who was considering refinancing her home mortgage, had
been referred by an acquaintance to a mortgage company manager.
The manager hastily put together a “great deal” for Kalibak—a deal
he said she could secure only by signing on the dotted line that
very day.
Alarmed by his pressure tactics, Kalibak decided she wanted a second
opinion. She called the EAP and was put in touch immediately with
a financial counselor who specializes in mortgage financing. “I
spent an eye-opening 30 minutes on the phone with the counselor,
and I came away ready to make an informed decision about my mortgage,”
she said. “In the end, my results were much better than the ‘great
deal’ offered by the mortgage company manager.”
Boeing employees and spouses can receive up to 30 minutes per person
per issue each year of financial consultation through the EAP’s
Legal and Financial Solutions service. Sessions with financial professionals
are available on a wide range of issues, including retirement planning,
investment strategies, and debt and credit concerns.
Kalibak said the counselor was a knowledgeable, neutral party—not
someone trying to get her mortgage business. “And getting his professional
advice didn’t cost me a nickel,” she added.
Through the EAP’s Legal and Financial Solutions service, employees
and dependents can also get up to 30 minutes per person per issue
each year of free consultation with a lawyer about a variety of
issues, including consumer rights and family law concerns.
“Based on the great experience I had with the EAP’s financial services,”
Kalibak said, “this year I intend to use the legal services as well.”
To learn more, employees may visit the EAP site at http://eap.web.boeing.com
or call 1-866-719-5788.
—Cynthia Pulham |
|
