65% rise in employee assistance requests for legal issues

• New figures by Personal Group reveal employees are turning to their workplaces for legal issues
• Personal Group calls on employers to step up legal support to cover both home and workplace matters

New figures from employee benefits provider Personal Group reveal a 65% increase in calls to employee assistance programme (EAP) for legal concerns.

The data, which shows nearly a third (30%) of calls were for legal reasons, comes at a time when employees are grappling with new issues in the workplace – ranging from health & safety to furlough rights. It also reflects a post-lockdown rise in divorce enquiries, with Citizens Advice recently sharing that views on its divorce webpage are up by 25%.

Employees accessed the EAP service by provider Health Assured* through Personal Group’s employee benefits platform, Hapi. Employees are able to discreetly access confidential EAP services away from the workplace and at any time of day.

Supporting the whole person

A review of calls to the EAP service in June 2020 also demonstrates how people are seeking additional support from their employer for their financial, physical, mental and social wellbeing. There was 17% increase in calls related to mental health and an 11% overall increase in calls across all topics (compared to the same month in the previous year.

Rebekah Tapping, group HR director, commented: “We are starting to see the wide-ranging impact of the pandemic on people’s lives, and this rise in legal enquires reflects significant changes at work and at home.

“Employers are under significant pressure themselves and they are making lots of tough decisions about how to manage the workforce. Giving people access to confidential, unbiased advice is the right thing to do – whatever the circumstances. This free resource is vital for those who often don’t know where to turn.”

*Calls made to the Personal Group employee assistance programme (EAP) portfolio covering the period 1st June – 31st June 2020. 605 EAP calls were made during this time from employees across the Personal Group customer portfolio.