{"id":8136,"date":"2023-05-31T15:27:26","date_gmt":"2023-05-31T20:27:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bbrown.com\/insight\/employee-assistance-programs\/"},"modified":"2023-05-31T15:27:26","modified_gmt":"2023-05-31T20:27:26","slug":"employee-assistance-programs","status":"publish","type":"insight","link":"https:\/\/www.bbrown.com\/ca\/insight\/employee-assistance-programs\/","title":{"rendered":"Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) | Compliance Considerations for Employers"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Employee Benefits<\/p>\n

\n Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) | Compliance Considerations for Employers\n <\/h1>\n\t\n <\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2\/3″]\n
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\n Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) | Compliance Considerations for Employers\n <\/h1>\n\t\n <\/div>[vc_column_text]The term \u201cemployee assistance program\u201d (EAP) is not defined under federal law, and the specific benefits and services offered under these programs will vary from employer to employer. For the most part, EAPs are employment-based programs that offer employees benefits ranging from financial planning and childcare to substance abuse counseling and mental health support. EAP benefits are typically provided through third-party EAP vendors and can be offered as stand-alone programs or coordinated with an employer\u2019s wellness program. Life and disability carriers frequently include EAP programs as a value-added benefit in conjunction with a long-term disability (LTD) policy.<\/p>\n

When determining an employer\u2019s compliance obligations pertaining to EAPs, the most important factor will be whether the EAP provides medical care\/benefits.<\/strong><\/p>\n

ERISA<\/h3>\n

EAPs Providing Medical Benefits<\/strong><\/p>\n

To the extent an EAP provides medical benefits, and assuming the plan sponsor is otherwise subject to ERISA1<\/sup>, the EAP will be an employee welfare benefit plan subject to ERISA\u2019s reporting and disclosure requirements. ERISA section 3(1) defines the term \u201cemployee welfare benefit plan\u201d as:<\/p>\n

\u201cany plan, fund, or program\u2026established or maintained by an employer or by an employee organization, or by both, to the extent that such plan, fund, or program was established or is maintained for the purpose of providing for its participants or their beneficiaries, through the purchase of insurance or otherwise, (A) medical, surgical, or hospital care or benefits, or benefits in the event of sickness, accident, disability, death or unemployment, or vacation benefits, apprenticeship or other training programs, or day care centers, scholarship funds, or prepaid legal services, or (B) any benefit described in section 302(c) of the Labor Management Relations Act, 1947 [29 USC \u00a7186(c)] (other than pensions on retirement or death, and insurance to provide such pensions).\u201d<\/p>\n

Whether a particular EAP provides medical benefits will depend on the services offered through the program and the circumstances in which they are provided. For example, an EAP that offers counseling sessions (regardless of the number of sessions) by a trained professional will likely be considered to offer medical benefits and therefore be subject to ERISA.2<\/sup> On the other hand, an EAP that provides only referrals based on publicly available information and is staffed by personnel with no special training in counseling or a related discipline most likely does not provide medical benefits and, therefore, would not be subject to ERISA.3<\/sup><\/p>\n

Employers must consult with their employee benefits attorney for a legal opinion on whether their specific EAP is subject to ERISA.[\/vc_column_text]\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tContinue Reading<\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n[vc_column_text]1 <\/sup>The plan sponsor will be subject to ERISA if it is a private for-profit or not-for-profit entity that does not fall under the governmental\/church exemption under ERISA.<\/em>
\n2<\/sup> \u201cIt has consistently been the view of the Department that benefits for treatment of drug and alcohol abuse, stress, anxiety, depression and similar health and medical problems constitute \u201cmedical\u201d benefits or \u201cbenefits in the event of sickness\u201d within the meaning of [ERISA] section 3(1).\u201d ERISA Opinion Letter 91-26A , 07\/19\/1991.<\/em>
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Regulatory and Legislative Strategy Group<\/h6>\n

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[vc_row row_style=”page-hero” full_width=”stretch_row_content”][vc_column][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2\/3″][vc_column_text]The term \u201cemployee assistance program\u201d (EAP) is not defined under federal law, and the specific benefits and services offered under these programs will vary from employer to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":66,"featured_media":7892,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"insight_category":[31,73],"class_list":["post-8136","insight","type-insight","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","insight_category-employee-benefits","insight_category-regulatory-and-legislative-strategy"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nEmployee Assistance Programs (EAPs) | Compliance Considerations for Employers - Brown & Brown<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbrown.com\/ca\/insight\/employee-assistance-programs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) | Compliance Considerations for Employers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[vc_row row_style=”page-hero” full_width=”stretch_row_content”][vc_column][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2\/3″][vc_column_text]The term \u201cemployee assistance program\u201d (EAP) is not defined under federal law, and the specific benefits and services offered under these programs will vary from employer to […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.bbrown.com\/ca\/insight\/employee-assistance-programs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Brown & Brown\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bbrown.com\/ca\/insight\/employee-assistance-programs\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.bbrown.com\/ca\/insight\/employee-assistance-programs\/\",\"name\":\"Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) | Compliance Considerations for Employers - 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