A comparison of Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) and HIV and AIDS workplace programmes in the Gauteng Provincial Government

Abstract

The main impetus for conducting research of this type was for the researcher to better understand the nature and types of EAP and HIV and Aids programmes that exist in the selected Gauteng Public Service departments. The researcher was motivated to choose this subject as she was employed by the Gauteng Department of Education and is currently employed by the Gauteng Department of Health of which these departments are the largest departments in the province and was able see both the similarities and differences between how the EAP and HIV and Aids Workplace programmes were being conducted. One similarity between the programmes is that both EAP and HIV and Aids Workplace Programmes are concerned with employee well-being with the aim of enhancement of the quality of work life and productivity. Employee assistance programmes commenced in Gauteng as a directive from the office of the Premier in 1999 (Gauteng Department of Education [GDE] Draft EAP Policy, 2003).This directive was the seed that led the development of both EAP and HIV and Aids Workplace Programmes in the Gauteng Province. This was a smart decision of investing its employee’s wellness and was strategically originating from the top structure within the province. In this research an exploratory study was undertaken in order to identify the relationship between EAP and HIV and Aids Workplace Programmes in nine Gauteng government departments. The survey design was used within the quantitative approach and use was made of a structured questionnaire. The study was made up of the responses elicited from 14 employees representing 9 state departments within the Gauteng Provincial Government. These respondents were directly responsible for both or either EAP and HIV and Aids Workplace Programmes. Applied research, considers a situation in practice to answer practical question about the EAP and HIV and Aids Workplace Programmes within GPG, was used. The researcher sent out sixteen questionnaires using a purposive sampling method to select respondents for this study. A discussion of the theoretical overview covered EAP and HIV and Aids Workplace Programmes in South Africa. This was further delineated to EAP and HIV and Aids Workplace programmes in the public sector and to the Gauteng Province. The research findings indicated that that the departments surveyed varied drastically in terms of employee size from 60000 to 292. The majority of the respondents were female and were EAP coordinators and the most frequent undertaken daily task was counselling, although many of the government departments had been making use of an external service provider to render an EAP service. Counselling was a service offered by the external service provider. Other findings were that the majority of the respondent’s had a university degree and many even had post-graduate qualifications. Almost all departments surveyed had policies that were relevant to EAP and HIV and Aids Workplace Programmes in place. The recommended requirements needed to sustain the EAP and HIV and Aids Workplace programmes include the following: • Locating the EAP and HIV and Aids Workplace programmes at top management level within the respective departments. • Combining the HIV and Aids Workplace Programmes and EAP under the banner of Employee Wellness. • Ensuring that these programmes are adequately resourced both in terms of budget and staff. • On-going marketing of the programmes to increase utilization. This research has highlighted the need for an integrated programme under the banner of wellness that can holistically serve the needs of employees. EAP and HIV and Aids Workplace Programmes practised in isolation are not as effective as a integrated customised programme designed to suit the individual requirements of an organization and its employees.