A Promising Tool For Helping Vulnerable Workers? An Exploration of the Use of Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) to Help Low-Wage Workers on College Campuses
Employee assistance programs, or EAPs, are an employee benefit designed to help workers meet their work and family needs. However, questions have been raised about the design, utilization, and scale of services that EAPs make possible for low-wage workers. This article explores whether on college campuses an EAP benefit can simultaneously meet the needs of faculty and professional staff as well as hourly workers in parking and security, janitorial and facility, and dining services. Findings derived from interviews and a literature review reveal many promising practices worthy of replication by colleges and universities; however, this investigation also revealed the limits of EAPs’ usefulness for “working poor” service workers in higher education.