The aim of this study was to investigate the perceptions of football players and officials on the provision of employee assistance programs by football clubs in South Africa. The study used interviews to collect data from ten football players playing for different football clubs in the Premier Soccer League (PSL) of South Africa, two officials from the PSL and two officials from South African Football Players Union. The results of this study indicate that football players believe that employee assistance programs need to be made available by football clubs. Although football officials consider the provision of employee assistance programs to be significant, they shifted the responsibility for its provision to football clubs. The results led to the conclusion that South African clubs must provide EAPs to improve the morale and performance of players. Direction for future research could focus on investigating the provision of EAPs by football clubs in Africa and in Europe to compare the differences between clubs that offer EAPs and clubs that do not.

The research of Employee Assistance Programs in Taiwan with employees' attitude and organization performance Abstract After industrial revolution in the early 19th century, Tailor's working-time study regarded men as a portion of machinery and developed Z-thesis from X & Y-thesis for men part in business management. Nowadays the human resource management in Taiwan is based on men because of high population density and policies of our government that has been implementing nine-year national education throughout the country. Besides, the development and increasing of the professional universities also educate al lot of people with professions in various fields. It makes Taiwan become one of the most important Chinese human resources center. However, facing to a great deal of internationalized impact for getting into WTO, all our industries consider the way to handle for the situation changes a lot day by day. Though the enterprises get advancement in competitiveness of their business, many problems are brought to the employees under the stress in the workplace. Those problems cannot be resolved by enterprises' welfare committee or by labor union. In addition to the rapid growth of the economy in Taiwan, the industrial society also has been changed at speed. The enhancement of personal value makes employees not only pay attention to how good their welfare is and how much salary is, also if the workplace is comfortable , safe, and full of peaceful and pleasant atmosphere which will influence their working emotion. They also consider the harmony in society and in family. Therefore, enterprises should take measures to keep their employees physically and mentally healthy, according to the employees various needs. Definition of EAPs offer employers an alternative in confronting job performance problems in the workplace. Employee assistance programs are worksite-based programs designed to assist in the identification and resolution of productivity problems associated with employees impaired by personal concerns including, but not limited to: health, marital, family, financial, alcohol, drug, legal, emotional, stress, or other personal concerns which may adversely affect employee job performance. In 1981, the local enterprises started to establish the model of 'Labor Guidance and Assistance" to execute "Employee Counseling Issue" the so-called industrial social work. Before this, the content of the industrial social work was based on the items of safety and sanitation, labor insurance, labor education, professional training, entertainment, and labor services etc. But the professional thesis and skills of social work were not applied to these assistance items. Thus, our Labor Committee introduced EAPs to the local enterprises in 1985 and helped them to establish employees assistance systems of EAPs. The current problems that Taiwanese labors meet are: (1)Lower employed (2)Shortage of basic labor (3)The job-switching problem of the excessive manpower from agricultural and industrial department (4)The management problem of foreign labors (5)Second career problem for middle aged and old people Besides, local employees counseling is always considered to be the conflict between labor and capitalist, which is different from EAPs. EAPs take employees' personal problems as a part of organization management responsibility. However, this kind of research is seldom discussed by local enterprises. The major study of purpose were follows: 1.To discuss the present situation in business carrying out EAPs, and the employees' requirements and satisfaction degree on the programs. 2.The EAPs models are carried out continuously in business and improvement will be reached, according to employees' requirements and satisfaction degree on them. 3.Questionnaire investigations on EAPs basic service items are taken to be the reference for redesign and execution the programs in HRM department to meet employees' requests on work, life, health, and welfare. 4.To study the relation among organization performance, organization commitment, and HRM system when EAPs are carried out in business. The findings of the study : The sequence of requirement is (work assistance programs), (management assistance programs), (life assistance programs), (other assistance programs). The sequence of satisfied degree is (life assistance programs), (work assistance programs), (other assistance programs), (counsel service fashion), (management assistance programs), (healthy assistance programs), (organization performance), (organization commitment). The result reveals that carrying out EAPs will help employees work steadily in business. Besides, to enhance productivity, to reduce work accident, to lower absence from work, to avoid switching job, and to improve harmony in working place will reach organization performance and strengthen employees' commitment to the organization.

Thesis (M.A. (S.W.))--University of Pretoria, 2003.

In efforts to facilitate the utilization of EAPs and access to EAP services, traditional supervisory referral processes have trailed behind increased worker needs. EAP purchasers (e.g., employers), therefore, have demanded improving penetration rates of impaired employees in their workplaces. More specifically, there is a need for increased access to EAP services and resources for workers throughout organizations. Given this pragmatic marketplace objective and a gap in EAP research concerning supervisory interventions, this study examined various aspects of the supervisor-troubled employee identification and intervention process. It was thought that there are a variety of alternative helping strategies that supervisors' enact, along with initiating an EAP referral. It was also assumed that these helping strategies might be more appropriate and/or effective for different members of the workplace.Because most previous EAP research investigated front-line supervisors and staff, there has been limited data on other workplace populations. In Part One of this project, therefore, actual supervisors (N = 34) from various positions in the organizational hierarchy were recruited to systematically identify a range of potential actions that managers might employ with troubled workers. After establishing content validity and reliability for five identified actions (Modify Relationships, Contact Professionals, Informal Discipline, Formal Discipline, & Support), these supervisory strategies were used as dependent measures in Part Two of this study.More specifically, in Part Two of this project, supervisors' beliefs about and potential actions taken with impaired employees were investigated. Supervisors (N = 91) from all levels of the organizational hierarchy of a large Midwestern hospital served as participants. Supervisors were asked to rate their likelihood of utilizing the five specific strategies in response to hypothetical troubled workers or colleagues. Unlike many previous studies that typically focused on substance abuse problems, the current project presented participants with hypothetical employees who displayed a variety of personal difficulties.Hypotheses for this study were based on Bayer and Gerstein's Bystander-Equity Model of Workplace Helping Behavior (1988a). MANOVA results, in general, supported this Model and suggested that supervisors varied in their potential actions with impaired employees as a function of their position in their organization's hierarchy. Managers also differed, in part, in their responses to troubled workers and colleagues. No significant differences were found, however, with respect to supervisors' beliefs about behaviors indicative of problem staff members.Organizational, clinical, and research implications are offered. Finally, along with discussing corporation's expectations for cost-efficient and effective EAP services, proactive roles for EAP professionals and consultants are described. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

Thesis (MSD(Social Work and Criminology))-University of Pretoria, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1992. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 231-237). Also available via the Internet

Thesis (M.Sw.(Social Work and Criminology))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references: (leaves 84-89).

Thesis (MSD (Employee Assistance Programme))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references.

The study was conducted in order to determine the employee needs for an employee assistance programme in a welfare organisation in East London, Eastern Cape. This study was born out of a need from the management of this welfare organisation in East London who identified a need for an employee assistance Programme (EAP) within their organisation. According to management, there was a decline in productivity, and high stress levels due to high caseloads and societal demands (Leeuw, May 15, 2015). The theoretical framework that guided this research was systems theory. The rationale for using systems theory is that this study deals with individuals within an organisation who must coexist on a daily basis. There is a general belief that people and their physical-social-cultural environment interact in processes of mutual reciprocity and complementary exchanges (Merton, 2009). A qualitative approach was used in this study. Eight (8) employees from various levels in a welfare organisation were purposively selected to participate in the study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the participants and the interviews took more than forty-five (45) minutes each and this enabled the acquisition of rich information which is described in the findings and is used as a basis for the recommendations in the study. After the examination of the needs of employees for an EAP from the observations of both the employer and the employee it was clear that there is a need for employee assistance programmes in welfare organisations. Employees in this organisation are experiencing stress, burnout and were highly concerned about high caseloads that makes them feel incompetent to render adequate and quality services to their employees. The study also revealed that both employees and management of this organisation have different needs, experience different types of problems and view the EAP in different contexts. Despite the differences in their outlook on the situation, the evidence indicates that both employer and employee perceive that there is a need for an EAP, especially clinical services. At the same time, the issue of funding such a programme is also a concern. Recommendations were made for the organisation to develop an EAP to address the needs identified by employees, and for a clear communication strategy be developed to make all levels of employees within the organisation aware of the existence of such a programme. Another recommendation was made for the organisation to identify specific days on which they will conduct preventative awareness and debriefing sessions for the employees. It was also recommended that the South African Council for Social Services Professionals must standardise, regulate and monitor caseloads for the social work profession.

Based on Bayer and Gerstein's (1988a) Bystander-Equity Model of Supervisory Helping Behavior, this study examined the relationship between characteristics of Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs), supervisors, workers, and the EAP referral process. These theorists suggest that individual and environmental variables interact in a dynamic fashion and that one result of this process is a management-initiated EAP referral. Specifically, it was hypothesized that managerial status, type of troubled worker, and EAP location would affect supervisors' likelihood to refer hypothetical impaired employees to an EAP.Graduate students (N = 222) were asked to imagine themselves as supervisors (upper, middle, or front-line) employed by a fictitious manufacturing firm. They were also asked to imagine that they were responsible for some hypothetical workers described in a set of scenarios. Each participant received one of three sets of scenarios (cocaine abuser, alcohol abuser, or job-impaired worker). Additionally, half of the participants were told that their EAP was corporately owned and company-based, and that the personnel were employees of the firm. The other half were told that their EAP was contracted-out to independent practitioners (i.e., not employees of the company), and that the program was community-based. Upon review of each scenario, respondents were asked to indicate their likelihood (OZ-100%) of referring a particular hypothetical employee to their fictitious EAP.Results of an ANOVA revealed no significant interactions. As expected, however, two main effects for type of substance abuse and managerial level were found. Participants were more likely to refer cocaine abusers to an EAP than alcohol or non-substance abusing hypothetical employees. Referral rates were also found to be higher for alcohol abusing workers as compared to non-substance abusers. Additionally, it was discovered that front-line managers were more likely to make referrals as contrasted with upper-level managers. There was no effect found for the location of the EAP.Based on these findings a number of theoretical explanations were offered as were empirical and programmitic implications. Limitations of this project were discussed in terms of the analogue methodology, the single dependent measure (i.e., likelihood to refer), the stimulus materials, and the sample population used. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services