Germany: a difficult market for EAPs.

Germany is a country with a well established welfare system that offers access to counseling services and health care for everybody Health insurance (including psychotherapeutic treatment) is obligatory for all employees, and a wide range of counseling services is available through church and community resources.

If problems arise in the workplace, very active works councils are available to provide employees with support. In addition, occupational social work has a long tradition in Germany, with formal programs in companies such as Siemens and Deutsche Telekom.

Does this mean that employee assistance services are not needed in a country like Germany?

When we began to market EAPs in Germany five years ago, we frequently heard questions such as these:

* Why would employers pay for services that are available in the community and are already paid for by taxes?

* Wouldn't human resources representatives, supervisors, and works councils be the correct (and more appropriate) persons to turn to with workrelated issues?

* Aren't personal issues private, and not appropriate for discussion with a supervisor?

* Why should an employer pay for something private, such as counseling for a marriage crisis?

In the five years since then, things have begun to change, though slowly. Globalization is having strong effects on the German economy. Workloads are rising, jobs are no longer safe for a lifetime, production costs in Eastern Europe and Asia are much lower than in the West, frequent changes are putting high demands on employees, and the effects of restructurings, mergers, and acquisitions are often confusing.

Many managers feel that employees find it hard to cope with these changes and keep pace with the required workload. They say that presenteeism has become a problem among workers. Although absence rates are at a historic low level, the incidence of mental health problems among employees has risen dramatically.

In these times, more and more people are beginning to understand the role that employee assistance services can play in helping workers and their employers tackle the challenges of modern work and life. Counselors and psychotherapists, who work in private practices and welfare counseling bureaus, often have little understanding of what goes on behind company doors. There is a very real danger that they encourage their clients to see themselves as victims of unhealthy circumstances while not giving them enough support and education in how to manage themselves successfully in busy work environments with frequent changes.