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Engaging People. The scope of the EWP

100% CONFIDENTIAL
FOR YOU AND YOUR FAMILY

LifeAssist has been chosen by your company to provide employee assistance solutions. It is the passion and purpose of LifeAssist to make your world a better place. Helping you to discover and experience meaning and purpose in your personal life and at work.
We invite you to develop a relationship with us, and to trust our professional team to support and guide you on your journey to wellness. It will be a privilege to assist you through this EWP.
You can use the programme independently, together with a family member or, if you want to grow your potential and improve performance at work, you can seek assistance in partnership with your manager.

Experts within reach

A National Support Centre Clinician will assess your needs so that you get in touch with the most suitable professional and the most appropriate type of support – either telephone, face-to-face or email counselling and advice.
You can talk to us in English, Afrikaans, isiXhosa, isiZulu, Sepedi, Sesotho, Setswana, Tshivenda, Xitsonga, Ndebele and Swati. If your language of choice is not on duty at the time, we can arrange for someone to call you back. Written communication is in English.

Quality assured

All calls are voice-recorded. A Case Manager reviews each case and approves the number of sessions according to the professional guidelines.

Emotional

Psycho-social counselling
Counselling is provided by psychologists, social workers and certified counsellors on a wide range of issues that impact your personal, family, social and work life, within a brief solution-focused therapy model.

Financial

Financial Coaching Financial literacy, budgeting and credit restructuring recommendations

Debt Counselling*  Referral into our contracted network of debt counsellors who are accredited by the South African National Credit Regulator [NCR]. The NCR requires that the beneficiary is liable for the costs of this process. Costs are included in the repayment plan of the individual, so they don’t have a further negative financial impact.
Included in this process: Completion of a financial needs analysis, an audit of all accounts being paid, recommendations as to where credit can be restructured, completion of a detailed budget, obtain debt information from creditors, negotiate favourable payments with creditors and follow up on budgets to ensure adherence.
* This service is only available in South Africa.

Physical

Diet/Nutrition Advice on the management of energy, weight and general health. A case is made up of an assessment and eating plan, and then a follow-up.

Fitness A biokinetic assessment and exercise prescription to promote fitness, injury prevention and recovery.

Trauma Support

By definition: Trauma is a real or perceived threat to a person’s life resulting from an event that is outside of normal human experience and in which a person experiences intense feelings of fear, helplessness, or horror. A traumatic event involves actual or threatened death, violence or serious injury.
LifeAssist’s response includes: Defusing for workplace incidents and
Trauma counselling, preferably between 24 and 72 hours of the incident

HIV and AIDS

Includes education, counselling, and health and lifestyle advice – supporting those infected and affected by this pandemic.

 

 

Legal advice

Includes, but is not limited to: Family Law, Matrimonial Law, Commercial Law, Property Law, Wills and Estates (excluding trusts), 3rd Party Claims (MVA, damage to person or property) and Human rights.

 

 

The LifeAssist Network

The LifeAssist network of clinicians and professionals include psychologists, social workers, accredited trauma and HIV counsellors, dieticians, biokineticists, financial counsellors and lawyers.
LifeAssist aims to refer you to a clinician or professional who is the right match – taking into consideration gender, culture, language and location. Priority is given to the qualification of the clinician or professional (scope of practice) in all referrals.

Counselling options

We offer counselling telephonically, electronically and face-to-face at the consulting rooms of the clinician or professional. The National Support Centre Clinician will assess your need and recommend the type of counselling.

Face-to-face counselling usually takes place at the consulting rooms of the LifeAssist Clinician or Professional. Visits are scheduled in your personal time – before or after work, and no-one other than LifeAssist knows that you have attended.

Counselling at the workplace can be offered if the employer agrees and if it is practical – e.g. there is a suitable venue and the intervention does not need special equipment or materials.

Visits in work time. The EWP may not be used as a reason for non-attendance at work. If the employee wishes to use the EWP during work hours, the employee must get permission from their Manager. The Manager does not need to know the reason.
The Manager has a right to decline the permission and to request an Attendance Note. You can request an Attendance Note from your therapist.

Ethical principles

You have the right to service that is Professional | Independent | Voluntary | Private

The right to professionalism | All beneficiaries receive the same careful consideration and professional assistance.

Independence and neutrality | LifeAssist is independent and will not be drawn into Employee Relations or domestic issues.

The Right to Protection | Employees seeking assistance will not be viewed negatively by the company – in fact it is a seen as positive.
Anyone who has been authorised to receive personal information regarding any EWP case is obliged to protect the privacy of the EWP participant.

Freedom of Choice | The outcomes of counselling are significantly improved when people volunteer their participation. Utilisation of the EWP is strictly VOLUNTARY – even when recommended by a manager or a parent.

Privacy and Confidentiality| Confidentiality is the cornerstone of our business. It is non-negotiable and there can be zero compromise when it comes to peoples’ lives. There are serious consequences if confidentiality is breached.
LifeAssist will not reveal any personal information unless:

  • the individual gives consent – in writing or verbally (voice recording)
  • the law requires disclosure – e.g. a court order for records
  • it is believed that life or safety is threatened by failure to disclose – such as a risk of harm to self (suicide) or others (homicide), a threat to safety at the workplace, domestic violence or neglect or abuse of children

What information do you give to my employer? No personal information is given. Your company gets regular utilisation reports. Group data ensures that it is not possible to identify anything personal in the report.

The information is about how many times LifeAssist has been contacted, the contact points, counselling type, summary of reasons and the profile of people who are benefiting from the EWP. We make recommendations for the company to consider when necessary.

If you choose to use the EWP to improve your work performance in the context of a Manager Referral, you give permission on the Manager Referral Form for us to give feedback to your Manager and/or anyone else you name on your form.

Will my colleagues, life partner or family know if, or why, I am using the EWP? No – unless you give us permission to tell them. Processes are in place to safeguard your privacy.

You would need to complete the Authorisation to Release Information, Complaint Resolution and/or Manager Referral. All the forms you need can be found here >

How to use the EWP

Processes to protect privacy

Authorisation to Release Information Process
We cannot tell anyone if you are using the EWP or not and no-one outside of LifeAssist can know your personal information without your permission. It is for this reason that you need to sign an Authorisation to Release Information Form to enable us to disclose to anyone else. LifeAssist does not disclose your information to your employer without good reason.

Complaint Resolution Process

If you are not happy with the service you have the
right to lodge a complaint. LifeAssist welcomes feedback, in the interest of improving our service.

The Complaint Resolution process respects privacy.

The signed Complaint Resolution Form gives permission to the LifeAssist panel to start investigating, which might warrant listening to voice recordings and/or viewing personal records and counselling notes.

Referrals

When you reach out to LifeAssist for help, we call this a ‘referral’, and we open a ‘case’. A case is made up of a number of ‘sessions’. We manage your case through three types of referrals:

SELF REFERRAL

MANAGER REFERRAL

3RD PARTY REFERRAL

Self-Referral

A self-referral is personally motivated and initiated by the person who needs the assistance. There are very good outcomes when a person takes the initiative to seek professional counselling and advice.

No-one would know that you have chosen to use the service.

When an employee self-refers;

Management is not aware of your participation, nor will they be involved in the process unless permission is required for time off
No information is given to the company

If someone else feels it is appropriate for you to use the EWP, they can give you the contact details and encourage you to contact LifeAssist. If you take their advice and contact us, it becomes a self-referral and no-one is entitled to receive feedback. This includes management or colleagues at work, parents and life partners.
If you want LifeAssist to give any personal information to anyone else, you need to follow the Authorisation to Release Information Process.

Manager Referral

If it is apparent that there is something troubling an employee that is affecting work performance, a manager or HR may suggest a Manager Referral.
The early identification of under-performing staff, and their referral into the EWP, benefits both the employee and the business – helping the person to find solutions to prevent further loss of productivity.

Manager consultation
LifeAssist offers support to managers to help them to lead through challenging times and to promote employee engagement by managing performance constructively and growing the potential of their people.

LifeAssist will respond when we receive the completed Manager Referral Form that is signed by the employee.
Confidentiality is assured.

The employee needs to agree to the counselling and the nature of feedback. We will only give feedback to the person(s) who you name on the form.

Feedback is limited to process and progress:

If the employee kept the appointment

If LifeAssist has recommended a treatment plan, whether or not the employee agrees to follow these recommendations

If the employee will or will not need time away from work

If the supervisor needs to be involved in setting the date on which the employee
is expected to return to work

LifeAssist will not interfere with the employer’s performance management or disciplinary process.
It is the responsibility of the employee to seek help for challenges that affect their work life. If an employee prefers not to go the route of a Manager Referral, the employee is welcome to self-refer to the EWP, or seek help privately.

Third Party Referral

Care and concern
We are often asked to contact someone who seems to need counselling. We need to respect privacy and know that the best outcomes are achieved when people ask for help personally. As a result we do not make outgoing calls.
It is best to give the contact details to the person and encourage them to use the EWP.
If it seems that there is a risk to their life, or they pose a danger in the workplace, or there is domestic violence or child abuse, we will reach out.

Wellness-related referrals
In some workplace programmes, LifeAssist works in partnership with other service providers like the medical aid scheme, disability insurer or occupational health clinic. If we identify that you could benefit from the services of any of these partners, we can suggest that you contact them, or ask you if they can contact you. We can only share your information with your consent. You have the right to ‘use or refuse’. Essentially, a self-referral results.

Parental referral
A parental referral is made when a parent has concerns about their child. If the child is younger than 13 years, we can guide the parent.

A child aged 13 years and older can request his/her own counselling. The issue of confidentiality is critical and feedback is subject to the same conditions as for adult beneficiaries.

Rules of engagement

You have an important role to play to ensure the success of the EWP.

Making appointments
If you require counselling or advice, you need to contact the National Support Centre. Tell us how we can help you so that we can arrange for you to receive the most appropriate assistance.

Confirming appointments
If we are scheduling appointments for tele- or face-to-face counselling that is not urgent, we undertake to get back to you within 48 business hours, during which time we will make two attempts to reach you to confirm an appointment. Please return our call ASAP. If we don’t hear from you after the two attempts, we assume that you no longer require help. If you don’t hear from us within 48 business hours, please contact us, as you may have missed our calls.
Emergency or high risk cases are attended to within more urgent timelines.[Refer to your Service Level Agreement.]

Contact boundaries
When LifeAssist needs to confirm appointments, provide tele-counselling or advice or to give feedback, we need to protect your privacy. Tell us how you would like us to contact you and when it is convenient.

It is best to give us your personal mobile number where we can leave a voicemail or SMS message.
If you only have a landline number, we cannot leave messages at work or at home. If you don’t hear from us in 48 business hours, it is best for you to phone us to confirm your appointment.

We will reply by email or SMS, unless you ask us not to.

Keeping appointments
Please respect that even though there is no cost to you, the EWP is not free – your employer is sponsoring a professional service. If you can’t keep an appointment (face-to-face or telephone session), please call your counsellor/advisor to cancel or postpone the session. The sooner the better – we ask that you contact us at least a day before (24-hours in advance), as the time can be used to help someone else. If you don’t contact us 24-hours in advance or you do not arrive, it is considered a FTA (Failure to Attend) – a lost opportunity and waste of professional time and money.

It is possible that you may not relate to your counsellor. If you are uncomfortable with the counsellor, please inform the counsellor that you won’t be continuing with them. Ask the National Support Centre to re-refer you to someone else.

Exclusions

  • Long term psychotherapy
  • Psychiatry
  • Career counselling
  • Aptitude or psychometric tests
  • Educational assessments
  • Play therapy
  • Medical consultation, diagnostic tests or medication
  • Rehabilitation
  • Financial advice and policy brokering
  • Legal representation, litigation, conveyancing and labour law matters

The EWP is not a reason to get time off work or a replacement for any company policies or disciplinary procedures.

Costs

These EWP services are sponsored by the employer out of concern for your health and wellbeing.
Any costs that arise in the following circumstances are not covered by the employer or LifeAssist:

  • If a beneficiary seeks counselling or advice privately, and the counsellor/advisor is not a LifeAssist clinician or professional.
  • If the beneficiary consults a LifeAssist clinician or professional without being referred by the National Support Centre.
  • If the beneficiary continues to consult with the LifeAssist clinician or professional once the case has been closed and/or further sessions have not been authorised.
  • When a case is assessed as being outside the scope of the EWP, LifeAssist might suggest that the beneficiary gets help from an appropriate service provider. This is technically ‘referred out’. It is the responsibility of the beneficiary to take it further.

Online Wellness

On this site, you will find:

  • Information and interactive tools
  • Focus Centres, which looks at specific health topics
  • Information about your EWP
  • A photo gallery to record workplace activities
  • Resource Centre for Your Programme Forms and a DIY toolkit
  • Video resources

Get in touch with the National Support Centre online by completing the online form. Please note that response may take up to 48 business hours. If it is an emergency, phone the LifeAssist National Support Centre on 0800 NTHUSE (684 873)