| Circular Number | 2019-10 |
| Issue date: | 23 July 2019 |
| Application: | All Victorian Public Service employers |
| Resources | Guide for Offering Inclusive Employee Assistance Programs (DOCX, 120KB) |
| Enquiries: | Workforce and Engagement branch Victorian Public Sector Commission info@vpsc.vic.gov.au |
Key points
- The Guide for Offering Inclusive Employee Assistance Programs (the Guide) provides a set of standards for Employee Assistance Programs (EAP) providers to meet.
- It is intended for use by those responsible for engaging EAP providers, including human resource staff, occupational health and safety officers, or other contract managers.
- It provides advice on setting contract terms and standards for EAP providers to ensure services are disability confident and culturally appropriate for all staff.
- The Guide is part of a commitment to creating inclusive workplaces for all employees including Aboriginal employees, employees with disability, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex (LGBTI) employees, those from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds, older employees, and those in regional or remote geographical locations.
Background
Consultation with VPS departments and EAP providers showed that the terms under which EAP services are contracted may not be inclusive, or uniformly applied across all diversity groups and the sector.
The Guide meets both the Barring Djinang Aboriginal Employment Strategy 2017-2022 and Getting to Work Victorian public sector disability employment action plan 2018-2025 commitments to review cultural appropriateness and disability confidence of EAP support services for Victorian public sector employees.
VPS departments, the Disability Employment Community of Practice, the Barring Djinang Advisory Group, the Barring Djinang Community of Practice, Human Resource Directors and the Enablers Network collaborated with the VPSC to develop the Guide.
The VPSC will continue to work with stakeholders to review and update this guide accordingly.
Scope
The Guide does not provide an exhaustive list of the diversity of employee or business needs, it can, however, be supplemented with additional department or agency requirements.
Date of application
The Guide for Offering Inclusive Employee Assistance Programs was published on 26 June 2019.