IU Employee Assistance Program (IUEAP)
The IU Employee Assistance Program (IUEAP) was established to provide professional help when day-to-day activities are interrupted by stress. IUEAP services are confidential and voluntary. Some common reasons to use IUEAP services include:
- Depression
- Stress and anxiety
- Conflict in the workplace
- Drug and alcohol abuse
- Family and marital problems
- Grief and loss
Covered Services
Full-time Academic and Staff employees and their household members are eligible for:
A telephone helpline (365/24/7) to discuss problems and schedule an appointment to see a counselor.
In an emergency, a counselor can be available within minutes, or if required, a face-to-face appointment will be arranged with a qualified counselor.
With an EAP referral, participants are eligible for face-to-face visits with a professional counselor, up to six visits per year.
Supervisors may use IUEAP services as a resource for guidance in dealing with a troubled employee. In the event of a traumatic situation in the workplace, counselors can make onsite visits to provide critical incident debriefing.
Accessing Care
- Obtaining IUEAP services starts with a phone call: 888-234-8327 or 317-962-2622.
- A qualified and caring EAP professional will make an initial assessment and help to determine how IUEAP may help.
- A referral may be made to either an EAP network-licensed clinician for face-to-face problem-solving visits or to a local agency or resource.
- If a problem requires long-term care or clinical services beyond the scope of IUEAP, a counselor will help identify appropriate resources, including referral to a mental health or substance abuse professional.
Provider and Plan Contributions
IUEAP benefits are provided through The Indiana Clinic. All fees are paid by the University. There is no cost to employees for IUEAP services.
New Health Engagement Program
Beginning January 2011 and phased in over the following two years, Indiana University will introduce an incentive program for healthy outcomes and compliance with physician treatment plans. Program objectives include:
- Improving the health of employees and their spouses/domestic partners
- Reducing the rate of healthcare plan expenditures
- Promoting the delivery of effective healthcare services
Indiana University is expected to spend over $154 million on employees’ healthcare benefits during the current fiscal year. Unchecked, this expenditure could increase by 10 percent or more per year, to over $200 million per year in just three years. This level of expenditure is unsustainable and would jeopardize the University’s academic and research missions.
While final program details are in the process of being developed, here are some high-level provisions:
- Employee payroll contributions will increase incrementally over the next three years, with higher contribution amounts for higher-paid employees.
- Employees will be able to earn “credits” to reduce payroll contributions, by achieving health outcome goals. The early phase will focus on health risk assessments, biometric screenings, and the non-use of tobacco, followed by health status outcomes related to blood pressure, cholesterol level, glucose level, and body mass index targets. A later phase will focus on physician treatment plans and prescription drug regimens.
- Program provisions will apply to employees and spouses/domestic partners enrolled in an IU-sponsored medical plan.
- Coaching and support programs will be provided for employees and spouses who would like assistance with such concerns as: tobacco cessation, blood pressure, diabetes, nutrition, body mass, etc.
Additional information about this program will be posted at the University HR Web site: hr.iu.edu. Later in the year, information sessions will be held with employee groups across the University.
Changes to Overtime Policy
As part of the University’s budget cuts in these extraordinary and unprecedented times, the University’s overtime policy will be changed to match the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) rules. FLSA defines overtime as time worked over 40 hours in a week, and is compensated at a time and one-half rate, either in the form of pay or compensatory time off.
Currently, Indiana University counts all hours in pay status in a week to determine if overtime has been worked, including all paid time away from work, such as vacation or sick leave. However, FLSA requires counting only hours worked when determining overtime pay. Using the FLSA requirement, employees will receive straight compensation for all hours worked, but will receive the extra half-time compensation only when the hours worked exceed 40 hours in a workweek.
Effective May 16, 2010:
Personnel policies will be modified to change the overtime calculation to follow FLSA regulations.
- Overtime will be calculated based on all hours actually worked during a workweek, plus Holiday time. Vacation time, income protection time, PTO, etc. will not be included as hours worked.
- Overtime will be earned only after an employee works 40 hours in a week. For example, an employee who works 8 hours on Monday and Tuesday, takes a vacation day on Wednesday, works 10 hours on Thursday and works 8 hours on Friday will not qualify for overtime compensation. In this example, the employee worked 34 hours in the week as well as using one day of vacation. The employee will receive 8 hours of vacation pay, 32 hours of regular pay, plus 2 hours of pay or compensatory time off at straight time rate.
- Extra hours worked in a day will be compensated and will count towards reaching 40 hours but will not be considered as overtime if the person does not work over 40 hours in the week. These extra hours will be compensated in the form of pay or compensatory time off at a straight time rate.
Additional information:
- Calculations for determining overtime pay will be modified in the TIME system based on these policy changes. A new earn code will be set up in HRMS/Payroll to handle manual calculations for populations who are not using TIME.
- Units who have other timekeeping systems (such as Kronos and PIE) will need to complete the necessary changes to overtime calculations in their system based on these policy changes.
- This change will not affect existing premium payments such as shift differentials, call-back pay, schedule-change premiums, stand-by pay, etc.
Additional details will be communicated in future months.
Tobacco Use and Health
Quitting Tobacco is Now More Possible than Ever
Research reviewed for the National Library of Medicine guideline, Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence: 2008 Update, suggests a bright future for treating tobacco dependence. Effective treatments exist that can significantly increase rates of long-term abstinence, and such treatments are effective across a broad range of populations.
- Counseling is an effective tobacco use treatment strategy. Counseling adds significantly to the effectiveness of tobacco cessation medications; quitline counseling is an effective intervention with a broad reach; and counseling increases abstinence among adolescent smokers.
- There are many more medication options than in the past. Seven different effective first-line smoking cessation medications are now approved by the FDA for treating tobacco use and dependence. In addition, multiple combinations of medications have been shown to be effective.
Free & Clear® Quit For Life™ Program
IU’s medical benefits cover the cost of a tobacco cessation plan with Free & Clear, Inc. Quit for Life program. The benefit is available to all full-time Academic and Staff employees and their family members 18 or older. The plan is fully paid for by the University.
