Establish what the service actually provides
Ask for the service specification attached to the quote. Separate an information helpline, assessment, counselling, practical information and any employer or manager support. Do not treat access to an app as a complete description of the service.
| Area | Question to resolve |
|---|---|
| First contact | Who answers and what happens next? |
| Counselling | What assessment, eligibility and limits apply? |
| Practical support | Is it information, advice or a referral to another service? |
| Family access | Who qualifies, for which services and with which age rules? |
| Accessibility | What phone, digital, language and disability access is available? |
| Ongoing needs | What happens when the service cannot meet the person's needs? |
Ask the provider to demonstrate an example journey without using any employee's real circumstances. Keep the answer specific enough that the HR team can explain the first step without becoming the assessor.
Confidentiality and what the employer sees
EAPA UK's standards require a clear explanation of confidentiality and its boundaries, including when disclosure may be necessary. They also require management information to protect individual confidentiality and explain how usage is counted. These are professional standards, not evidence that a particular provider meets them. [S16]
Request the provider's actual confidentiality statement and a sample employer report. Ask whether any breakdown could identify a person in a small team, how consent is obtained for a management referral and what information comes back to the employer.
Give employees the provider's own explanation. Do not promise absolute secrecy in every circumstance or imply that a manager can read counselling notes through the benefits platform.
The first contact and what follows
Publish the current access instructions where people can find them away from work. Explain whether a membership code is required and how someone gets help if an app or login fails.
Ask the provider what happens after an initial contact: whether an assessment is required, who decides the next step, how appointments are arranged and what happens if further support is needed. Check whether published service hours describe the helpline, counselling appointments or a different service. They are not necessarily the same.
Agree an emergency explanation with the provider. An EAP should not be presented as a substitute for emergency services. For immediate danger, use the emergency services.
Included with insurance or bought separately?
List every EAP arrangement the employer already holds, including any attached to group protection or a cash plan. For each, record eligible users, services, limits, contact details and what happens if the underlying insurance ends.
Compare those actual specifications before cancelling or adding a service. A shared provider name does not establish identical entitlements. Likewise, two helpline numbers do not prove duplication if different groups can use them.
A useful employee guide explains which service the employer has confirmed and how to contact it. It should not ask employees to interpret competing brochures.
Tax and the service boundary
HMRC's welfare-counselling exemption is conditional. Its guidance describes included subjects and exclusions, and addresses EAPs that combine exempt and other services. The EAP label alone does not establish a tax exemption. [S17]
Ask the adviser and payroll to review the proposed specification, including any additional services, before calling the entire arrangement tax-free. Retain their explanation with the purchase record.
Evaluate the service without reading personal cases
Agree what a usable employer report looks like before the contract starts. Ask how contacts, cases and people are counted, which measures can be compared over time and how duplicate contacts are handled.
As an employer review, examine whether staff can find the service, whether access complaints are resolved and whether the provider explains its delivery against the contract. Usage alone cannot tell you whether employees' needs were met or whether workplace problems have been addressed.
Keep management action on workload, conduct and working conditions separate from offering someone a support number. The existence of an EAP does not establish that the employer has dealt with a reported workplace problem.
Renewal and a change of provider
Ask about changed counselling terms, service access, family eligibility, reporting and subcontractors. Obtain the arrangements for people already receiving support before changing provider.
The renewal health check gives a dated timeline for that review, counted back from your renewal date.
Replace old contact details in employee materials on the confirmed transition date. Ask how the outgoing and incoming providers handle continuity and consent. Do not promise a transfer of a person's case or notes without the providers' confirmation and the appropriate consent process.
Questions employees ask
Does my manager have to refer me?
Check the service's access instructions. Explain self-referral and any separate management-referral process clearly; do not assume that they work in the same way.
Can my family use it?
That depends on the agreement and the particular service. Use the provider's current eligibility rules.
Is the EAP my medical insurance?
The EAP is a support service. Read private medical insurance for treatment cover and group income protection for income during a qualifying absence.
Sources and limitations
This guide is general information about a type of employee benefit. It is not a recommendation, not advice about whether any product is suitable for you or your employees, and not a description of any particular insurer's policy. Cover, eligibility, exclusions, limits and price vary between policies and between employers. Whatever you are considering, the terms that apply are the ones in the policy document, and the people who can confirm them are the provider or your broker.
S16 · EAPA UKEAPA UK Standards, December 2022 edition
Location: Printed pages 1-4: service, management information, confidentiality.
Retrieved: 10 September 2026.
Limitation: Professional standards. They are not legislation or proof that a particular provider complies.