Employee Assistance Programme

The Department of Transport is committed to providing an environment that is conducive to promoting the emotional and social well being of all its officials, therefore a Employee Assistance Programme has been recently established.

Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) can be defined as a programme aimed at improving the quality of life of officials and their families by providing greater support and helping to alleviate the impact of everyday work and personal problems. This programme enhances officials' well being by restoring impaired job performance whilst at the same time increasing the Department's effectiveness.

The EAP assists employees whose performance is impaired by emotional and behavioural difficulties related to personal or occupational stress. The aim is on timely identification, assessment and referral of troubled employees/underachievers to specialist treatment (internal or external services) for successful reintegration into the work environment, NOT the termination of employment.

The main goals of the EAP are to enhance productivity, as well as social functioning. The main objective of the EAP is to provide constructive assistance to every employee, who is experiencing any form of a personal problem. A further objective is to prevent a decline of performance from employees with normally satisfying job performance and potential. The objective is NOT to terminate the employment of troubled employees.

Within the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport the EAP will be used as follows:

  1. Identification of troubled officials.
  1. Counselling and carrying out activities with troubled officials to assist them with their problems and to achieve maintenance of productive performance.
  1. Provision of programmes promoting healthy lifestyles and coping skills.
  1. Advising on the use of community services to meet officials needs and establish linkage with such programme/services.
  1. Referrals to more specialised services when necessary.
  1. Training of frontline personnel (union representatives, supervisors and managers) to enable them to:
  • identify when changes in job performance warrant referral to the EAP;
  • carry out an appropriate approach to the official that will result in such referral; and
  • motivate officials for self-referrals.
  1. Rendering of Community development projects to promote a healthy work environment.
  1. Marketing the EAP to all officials to create awareness and promote utilisation of the programme.
  1. Offering consultation to decision-makers in the management echelon concerning personnel utilisation.

The Employee Assistance Programme is a programme in which everyone can win. To make it work, it is essential that you use it: for your own benefit, for your subordinates' benefit and for the Department's benefit.

For officials of the Department, the EAP provides a means for him/her to resolve their problem(s), and to return to being an asset to the Department. Instead of humiliating him/her, it offers a return to dignity and self-respect.

As the Department of Transport values the services and contributions of all its official's and acknowledges that they all form an integral part of the Department achieving its vision of "PROSPERITY THROUGH MOBILITY" they realise that it is more cost effective and beneficial to all parties to retain trained officials, than it is to dismiss troubled officials and hire new ones. This is especially so as there is no guarantee that the new official will not, in time also show signs of problems!

For more details regarding the Employee Assistance Programme of the Department of Transport you can contact the EAP Office at Head Office on the following contact numbers: (033) 355 8821 or (033) 355 8834 or via main Head Office switchboard (033) 355 8600.

 

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