Enhanced Employee Assistance Programme (E-EAP) Provider

Umbrella provides an accessible and impactful enhanced employee assistance program to employers across New Zealand. Our Enhanced EAP service goes beyond the basics – providing tailored, professional mental health support that promotes overall wellbeing for your people. Don’t just tick a box with your EAP service—get your people targeted, effective support that looks after their overall mental wellbeing.

Our experienced team includes psychologists, psychotherapists, and counsellors – ensuring your people receive comprehensive support that matches their needs.

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What is an enhanced employee assistance programme (E-EAP)?

An employee assistance programme offers professional support to employees facing mental health challenges, helping them overcome obstacles to wellbeing. Unlike many EAP providers, our enhanced EAP is specialised, designed to complement existing EAPs with an enhanced level of service, professionalism and support. It features employer-funded assessments, confidential short-term counselling or other mental health treatment, and referrals for further care if necessary. We also support managers wanting to develop leadership skills, or seeking advice for how to promote wellbeing and navigate mental health issues within their teams.

More than just counselling, Umbrella’s E-EAP includes access to psychologists, psychotherapists, and other specialised mental health professionals to offer comprehensive, targeted and high-quality support for employees, especially those with complex or high needs.

Modern workplaces are increasingly aware of the importance of mental health and its impact on performance. Alongside proactive organisational support, availability of quality mental health support is a crucial aspect of a successful company. This is particularly true in high-stress industries where wellbeing needs are heightened.

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We make sure that employees are given access to support in a way that’s confidential, approachable, and empowering. At Umbrella, the process of accessing support services for an individual employee looks like this:

Employees voluntarily seek to engage with E-EAP, often with the support of a manager or trusted person in their workplace.
We commit to completing an initial triage within 48 hours, to determine whether mental health services are required, and if so, which ones.
Following triage, employees are seen within ten working days by the appropriately identified mental health clinician. From there, with their clinician, employees will work collaboratively to establish goals and work towards better mental health.
If needed and consented, clinicians can provide an employee assistance plan or return to work plan.

At Umbrella, we prioritise a personalised and proactive triage process to ensure each employee receives the most suitable care. Psychologists work with each new client to determine not only the best course of action but the most suitable clinicians to work together with the client. Our mission is to provide quality, specialised support that directly addresses the unique mental health and wellbeing challenges faced by each individual.

When our partner organisations choose to offer a comprehensive wellbeing package to their employees, our integrated approach creates wraparound care: not only do employees have access to individual EAP counselling and mental health services but Umbrella also offers a range of other support resources.

This includes preventative support such as leadership coaching, team and manager training and consultation, and workshops on building resilience, managing stress and strengthening wellbeing. Where required, we consult and guide organisations through crises and critical incidents using science-backed approaches. This holistic care is essential for fostering positive mental wellbeing in the workplace. It’s this comprehensive support offering that sets us apart from other EAP providers.

As an enhanced EAP service we can provide additional or specialist support packages to suit your needs and budget, complementary to existing EAP providers, with options available to all workplaces that would like to benefit from higher levels of mental health support.

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How does enhanced EAP work?

Signs your business needs enhanced EAP support

Wondering whether you need to offer specialised EAP support to your people? While offering it is a valuable benefit for any organisation, certain stress factors in your workplace may indicate a more urgent need to protect employee mental health and wellbeing. Here are some key signs to look out for:

Your workplace or industry has unique, complex or high-risk stressors. Whether it’s trauma exposure, customer aggression or other serious job demands, enhanced EAP services are designed to provide fit-for-purpose mental health support for the people that need it most.
You are noticing changes in your staff that are out of character. This might be people showing up late, appearing fatigued or disengaged or being more negative or snappy than usual. If you have noticed that psychological distress is spiking, or low mood is common in your workplace, an enhanced employee assistance program should be a priority alongside other preventative measures to curb work stress.
Increasing numbers of people seeking diagnostic assessments. Not all EAP providers can provide diagnostic support. Umbrella can.
There’s a decline in team morale and relationships. Umbrella offers more than just individual mental health support. Workshops, leadership coaching, organisational wellbeing assessments and other psychological interventions can help to boost your culture and lessen the need for further intervention and support.

Good leadership means paying attention to the signs and doing what is best for your people. Supporting your employees’ mental wellbeing and psychosocial safety is an investment in both their success and your business.

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Benefits of an enhanced EAP for businesses and employees

An employee assistance programme is offered as a service for workers, but businesses benefit from their investment in an EAP, too. It’s people that make up an organisation and their overall wellbeing forms a solid foundation for success.

The New Zealand Institute of Economic Research estimated a return of $3.60 for every dollar invested in employee assistance programmes. The estimate is even higher when organisational approaches to wellbeing are taken, where EAP is one part of a wider organisational commitment to positive wellbeing. This is where Umbrella Enhanced EAP steps in.

Our enhanced EAP benefits business by:

Providing practical support, guidance and skills for leaders to lead well, and get the best out of their team.
Providing expert support to employes to drive wellbeing and engagement.
Contributing to a work culture where absenteeism, presenteeism, turnover and burnover are tackled head-on, while productivity and safety improve.

An enhanced EAP package is an investment in your business’ future. To take care of your people is to protect your organisational IP and culture, both immense assets to any company. Poor mental wellbeing can eat away at your bottom line in a variety of ways. Multiple studies have shown that prioritising worker psychological health and wellbeing is closely linked to organizational productivity: good mental health supports job engagement, satisfaction, and retention. High turnover and preventable workplace incidents are costly – investing in wellbeing helps prevent both.

An E-EAP programme benefits employees by:

Making quality mental health support accessible when it’s needed, particularly for staff with complex needs, trauma or multiple presentations of mental distress.
Improving workplace relationships.
Enhancing work/life balance.
Preventing crises and addressing mental health challenges proactively.

A strong foundation of mental wellbeing helps employees navigate and thrive through challenges, both personally and professionally. EAP services, including counselling, provide easy access to support, allowing individuals to address issues early before they affect their job or personal life.

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Enhanced EAP services offered by Umbrella

The Umbrella Wellbeing Enhanced EAP is a comprehensive, high-quality programme which can be tailored to meet the unique needs of your business. Sessions are predominantly delivered via telehealth (online) allowing us to reach people who fall outside of usual catchment areas for mental health support, fitting in with busy schedules, and allowing people to be seen faster. We have some availability for face-to-face consultations: please enquire for more details.

Each aspect of our enhanced EAP services contributes to a robust support network that protects and fosters resilience and positive mental health for your people.

With our Enhanced Employee Assistance Programme, your organisation can benefit from:

Mental health services

Umbrella’s enhanced EAP service offers individualised, workplace-focused support, delivered by clinical psychologists, registered psychologists, psychotherapists and counsellors, giving employees a safe space to talk things through and learn coping strategies.

Extensive networks

We have over 30 psychologists across New Zealand who provide services as part of the Umbrella Wellbeing Enhanced EAP. This means there’s likely a practitioner near you, and if not, remote options are available to ensure support is accessible.

Advice to Managers and Leaders

Through professional mentoring and advice, we help strengthen your leadership team, equipping them with the tools to foster a positive workplace culture and support better mental health within teams.

Ongoing feedback and planning

As part of your package, you will have quarterly meetings with our team, where you can provide feedback, ask questions, and track progress to ensure the services is meeting your needs. This is part of our commitment to delivering the best EAP experience possible.

In addition to the services listed above, you can customize your package with additional options to meet your specific business needs. These include:

Learning, training and workshops

We offer workshops and other learning sessions to build resilience and mental health awareness within your workforce. This proactive approach is a valuable preventative measure.

We believe that the best EAP provider is one that meets your unique needs. With our range of services and added extras, we can put together a package that does just that.

Enhanced EAP FAQs

Can I access Enhanced EAP services as an individual?

At this stage, we only offer support to individuals who are employed with our client organisations. Before contacting the Umbrella team for EAP support as an individual, please make sure you check who your EAP provider is with your employer. To find out more about self-funded support, visit the New Zealand Mental Health Foundation website or find a psychologist on The New Zealand College of Clinical Psychologists directory.

To find out whether you have access to an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) through your employer, and who your provider is, you can follow these steps:

Start by reaching out to your Human Resources department or representative. They should have information about the EAP provider your company works with, if you have one, along with contact details.
Review your employee benefits documentation: Check any employee handbooks, brochures, or benefits materials provided by your employer. EAP information is often included in these documents.
Visit your company’s intranet or website: Many organisations post EAP information on their internal websites or portals. Look for a section related to employee benefits or wellbeing to find your EAP provider and how to contact them for assistance.

Why do workplaces offer EAPs?

EAPs are beneficial to both the workplace and the employee. By supporting the mental wellbeing of workers, they can boost productivity and engagement, improve company culture, and reduce turnover. Our enhanced EAP services support employees dealing with stress or distress (arising from work or personal life) that may affect their wellbeing and or job performance.

Are EAP sessions confidential?

Yes, enhanced EAP sessions are held in confidence, and nothing that is spoken of during them will be discussed with the client’s manager or employer. There may be limits to confidentiality in cases of imminent harm or legal requirements. Any exceptions will always be discussed between practitioner and client ahead of working together.

All information collected as part of providing our mental health services is held securely, in line with New Zealand privacy guidelines.

How many sessions are included in Umbrella's Enhanced EAP package?

The number of sessions included in an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) depends on the agreement between Umbrella and your organisation. We offer flexible packages tailored to suit your needs and budget. Some organisations choose to offer three sessions per person, while others offer six or more. We’ll work with you to create a solution that best supports your people.

What types of mental health support does EAP provide?

This will depend on the EAP provider. Umbrella’s enhanced EAP offers both counselling with qualified counsellors and psychological therapy with psychologists and psychotherapists. The type of service provided is decided at triage according to the individual needs of the employee accessing support.

What are the risks of not having an EAP?

Without an EAP in place, employees may struggle to access timely support for their mental health – especially during challenging periods. This increases the risk of harm, disengagement, reduced performance, and preventable workplace incidents.

An EAP acts as a crucial support system, allowing people to proactively manage stress, burnout, and life challenges before they escalate. Without this in place, you risk falling short of your legal obligations, breaching your duty of care, and exposing your business to avoidable safety and wellbeing risks.

Providing access to an EAP isn’t just best practice – it’s part of being a responsible, people-first employer.

Get started with Umbrella’s Enhanced EAP

Looking to strengthen the support system in your workplace? Umbrella is a trusted enhanced EAP provider in New Zealand, offering comprehensive, professional care to help protect and promote your people’s wellbeing. Already have an EAP provider? We work complementary to your existing EAP to provide fit-for-purpose specialised support from a wider network of experienced professionals.

We’d love to talk about how we can support your organisation. Get in touch via phone or email, or fill out the form on our contact page for tailored advice that meets your needs.

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