This is an ongoing content series on the current EAN website. We have set it up again here so you can continue to use it (if you like.)
Q. Can the employee assistance program (EAP) draft corrective letters and referral letters for supervisors so they can be more effective in motivating employees to visit the EAP when performance problems indicate a formal referral is needed?
A. The EAP cannot draft disciplinary or corrective documentation on a supervisor’s behalf. Writing performance documentation is a core supervisory responsibility, sometimes completed in consultation with human resources. However, the EAP can still play a valuable consultative role. It can offer general tips for effective documentation—such as clarity, structure, behavioral specificity, and completeness—that may strengthen your writing to make it more understandable and helpful to employees. By limiting its role to consultation rather than authorship, the EAP preserves its credibility with employees and avoids being viewed as adversarial. This balanced approach increases the likelihood that employees will accept referrals, engage with the EAP, and make meaningful use of the support it offers.
Q. I don’t want my employees to be overly stressed, but I don’t have much control over current workplace demands. I know workplace stress is nothing new, but is there something new about the nature of stress and the risk of complaints against employers these days?
A. Workplace literature shows that stress is no longer just a personal concern but a serious organizational problem with legal risks. According to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) these types of cases are on the rise. (Source: embroker.com/blog/workplace-harassment-claims data) Much discussion focuses on workplace cultures failing to adapt to massive changes in the world of work. Obviously, the roles of the supervisor and the EAP have never been more important. Early, subtle signs of increasing stress can be identified long before complaints start—including yawning, irritability, skipping breaks, eating at one’s desk, working late or on weekends, headache complaints, and tardiness. Be proactive with individual workers. Encourage five-minute breaks and model them yourself. Huddle your team regularly in 10-to-15-minute meetings to share wins, pass on information, and bond. This strategy has proven value in reducing stress. Try “stress temperature checks” by asking employees as a group how they are doing and what would help. Encourage use of the EAP and underscore its confidentiality. Above all, don’t be a supervisor who fails to provide reasonable support, ignores warning signs, allows excessive workloads, or engages in high-pressure tactics.
Q. I am frequently accused of being a micromanager. I might check in frequently with a team to which I have delegated work, but I don’t see this as micromanaging. What am I not understanding?
A. Micromanaging comes in many forms. A common perception of this practice is continually inserting oneself into a work project and not understanding how the authority of a supervisor influences group dynamics and productivity. Delegation is more difficult than it first appears. The goal is to allow a work team, as in your case, to be completely independent of your influence and direction, with the quality of the work product (whatever it might be) speaking for itself. If the final product is not acceptable, the team learns from the experience. This can create a lot of anxiety for supervisors, and constant checking is a compensatory behavior to relieve fear that mistakes will reflect poorly on their leadership or result in loss of control. Keep practicing delegation and rely on the EAP to help you overcome the missteps in your supervision. Higher levels of workplace productivity await!
Q. I learned the hard way that I must follow up after referring an employee to the EAP. I assumed all was well because the employee’s attitude was positive. Problems later began and worsened, until a crisis eventually occurred unexpectedly. What makes follow-up so important?
A. Your experience is not uncommon for supervisors who see referral to the EAP as “one and done.” Checking in with your employee helps reinforce accountability and helps ensure workplace expectations are still being met. A critical part of the EAP helping process is supervisors following up after the initial referral. Talk to the EAP about performance and develop a plan for how to monitor and support your employee after treatment or referral. Employee assistance programs often lead to tremendous success, but that success depends on a supervisor’s “paired managerial oversight.” This means the manager remains visibly engaged after the referral, reinforcing expectations, tracking improvement, and signaling to the worker that performance change still matters. Without this ongoing presence, urgency fades, follow-through weakens, and employees may drift from both EAP recommendations and employer expectations.
Q. My employee came back from a lengthy absence after treatment for alcohol use disorder (AUD). A group of peers then invited him out to a bar after work, acting as if he was cured. Should I tell the employees that this was inappropriate and educate them as to why?
A. A key part of recovery from alcohol use disorder is patients learning to tackle these types of situations with assertiveness skills that are learned in treatment. Declining an invitation to a bar and explaining why or simply suggesting an alternative activity is what will be expected from your employee. You or others were within earshot or learned of the bar invitation, but many other risky interactions will happen in the future that you will not be privy to. Was this a sincere invite, a form of harassment to undermine the employee’s recovery, or coworkers simply being naïve about AUD recovery, which is based on abstinence? Context makes a difference. If you are a small group, speaking quietly with the coworkers may be appropriate. Ultimately, your responsibility as a manager is to ensure the employee has a supportive, nondiscriminatory work environment and that his return goes smoothly. If the employee has complaints related to these matters, then you do have a solid reason to act.
FrontLine Supervisor is for general informational purposes only and is not intended to be specific guidance for any particular supervisor or humanresource management concern. For specific guidance on handling individual employee problems, consult with your EA professional. ©2026 DFA Publishing & Consulting, LLC. Gender use in Frontline Supervisor content is strictly random.
Q. We have an employee on the job who has been sober for many years. He has no performance issues but was an employee assistance program (EAP) client in the past. Reportedly, his doctor is recommending smoking marijuana to help treat insomnia and depression. I am worried about relapse. Should I contact the EAP?
A. Contact your EA professional to discuss your concerns about the employee. Afterwards, keep track of your employee’s performance as you would any other worker, and stay attuned to performance issues. Since performance isn’t currently problematic, your options are limited to confidentially processing these worries through the EAP. You’re rightfully concerned. Using psychoactive substances is typically considered a relapse for those recovering from alcohol use disorder (alcoholism) even if job performance remains acceptable. Relapses tend toward a chronic path and eventual use of the primary drug of choice. The EAP may decide to reach out to inquire how the employee’s recovery program is going and, depending on the outcome of that discussion, attempt to assess whether treatment is again warranted, make other recommendations to the employee, or perhaps, with the employee’s permission, consult with the patient’s doctor.
Q. If I phone the EAP to speak with the professional about an employee’s issues, will this conversation be kept confidential even though I am not an “EAP client”?
A. Yes, your consult with the EA professional is confidential. This can be helpful before referring an employee, allowing discussion of unique performance issues affecting the worker. (Note that this does not breach employee privacy because the consult is prior to referral.) Contacting the EAP anytime is encouraged. Pre-referral consults help ensure that referrals from you are handled effectively and all the expected and anticipated communication points are understood. The last thing you want is to be confused or wonder when the EAP will phone you following a referral or what to do if that call is not forthcoming. Tailored coaching on approaching an employee and suggestions on addressing specific behaviors can make the difference in successful referral. In some cases, consulting with the EAP may help you intervene with an employee’s performance issues so successfully that referral is never needed.
Q. I feel guilty considering disciplinary action for an employee with ongoing performance issues when they’re also working with the EAP on personal problems. The advice to “just focus on performance” doesn’t make that any easier.
A. It’s not uncommon for supervisors to feel conflicted in this situation. Many don’t fully understand that EAPs serve two purposes: They provide compassionate help to employees while also supporting the organization’s performance and productivity goals. In this regard, it’s the employee’s responsibility to meet performance expectations. You’re an empathetic supervisor, but empathy need not override performance standards. You may also see discipline as punitive rather than supportive. This common misalignment can impede your core supervisory responsibility to hold employees accountable. Your role is to make sure employees have clear goals, well-crafted expectations, and access to the appropriate resources so they can do their job. You might find it helpful to review, with the EAP and human resources, whether you’ve done everything possible to support the employee. (Clear communication, performance improvement plan, etc.) Doing so will help you feel assured that you’ve fulfilled your duty to support the employee if you need to proceed with disciplinary measures.
Q. I tend to be too lenient with rulebreakers, tardy workers, and underperformers. It’s to avoid tension and conflict. Can the EAP help me be more assertive, less insecure? How? EAP is so short term.
A. The EAP can definitely help, but since employees have grown accustomed to your current style, some resistance is normal when you begin setting firmer standards; they may test whether you’re serious about the new expectations. It won’t take long for the EAP to assist you with behavioral tasks to help you establish a new approach to managing employees. This is called solution-focused brief counseling, and it’s an EAP specialty. For example, after sharing information with the EAP (as a client), you may be assigned a homework task or two to build skills like assertiveness. The EAP may suggest that for the next two weeks, you address every instance of tardiness calmly within 24 hours. And you’ll meet with the EAP to discuss your experience. Later, you may move on to brief corrective conversations with employees, role play them with the EAP, and examine what you said, what you felt during the corrective meeting, and how things turned out versus what you feared. You should anticipate a supervisory style in about four to five EAP sessions.
Q. An employee’s negative attitude is obviously an important performance issue. But an attitude often seems hard to describe because it has a strong mental component that is hard to quantify. Give me some direction on how to do it.
A. Most employees and supervisors agree that a negative attitude can disrupt the workplace and harm productivity. It often affects morale, collaboration, and performance. Documenting it can be tricky because if documentation is vague, employees can deny it and say you were “reading me all wrong.” When supervisors document attitude concerns, they often stop at general statements and don’t include specific, observable examples. This undermines documentation. The right approach ensures clear, measurable detail that supports the concern and is less refutable. Use two steps: 1) clearly label the attitude—pessimism, rudeness, blame-shifting, disengagement, apathy, cynicism, resistance, entitlement, sarcasm, victim mindset, etc. 2) then describe behavior and tone. Example #1: “Judy demonstrates a pattern of pessimism. She frequently makes statements such as ‘This will never work’ or ‘Good going, genius, now we’ll never meet the deadline.’” Example #2: Bill demonstrates an attitude of entitlement. He stated to the team, “You all are wasting my time; doing this work is not why I was hired.” Adding coworker or customer impact strengthens documentation.
FrontLineSupervisor is for general informational purposes only and is notintended to be specific guidance for any particular supervisor or humanresource management concern. For specific guidance on handling individualemployee problems, consult with your EA professional. ©2026 DFA Publishing & Consulting, LLC.Gender use in Frontline Supervisor content is strictly random.
