The stress of separation accompanies people to work, reducing employee wellbeing and leading to lost productivity. The Separation Guide is the starting point for better separation, making the process simpler, less costly and less stressful. As part of your Employee Assistance Program (EAP), it will improve employee wellbeing and increase EAP utilisation rates.
Employee wellbeing is a focus for most organisations, because happy employees are more likely to be productive employees. Employers are utilising a more proactive approach to employee wellbeing and taking more responsibility for the mental and physical health of their people as part of their broader employee health and safety programs. Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) provide access to counselling services that are designed to improve the emotional, mental and general health of employees.
However, it is estimated that most EAPs have very low utilisation rates – often as little as 5%. There are many reasons for this, including:
- Lack of knowledge about the available services
- Stigma around seeking mental health support
- Not ready to talk to someone on the phone or in-person
- Issues of access to in-person services for remote and hybrid employees
- Concern about confidentiality of personal information
- Potential impact on career path for those using mental health services
Compounding this is a life event that causes a lot of stress and takes a large toll on mental health, but to date has not had adequate and easily accessible support services. Separation is considered the second most stressful life event after the death of a loved one. Separation and divorce are complicated, and they can have a high emotional and financial cost if not managed well.
And there are potential high costs to workplaces of separation and divorce, including lost productivity, absenteeism and even attrition.
Separation is the silent productivity killer lurking in most workplaces
It is likely that as many as 90% of separating employees suffer in silence, though they bring their stress to work every day, impacting their productivity and potentially causing disharmony in the workplace. More than 200,000 Australians separate each year, and on average it takes 619 days for a couple to complete their separation or divorce. That’s the better part of two years where an employee will be dealing with high stress and high stakes family and financial matters, and there is no way for them to switch that noise off when they come to work.
The cost of separation to employers
It is estimated that the cost of separation and divorce to Australian employers is on average $210,000 per separating employee per year. That translates to a staggering $35 billion per year across all Australian businesses. The stress of dealing with separation impacts employees ability to concentrate and make decisions at work and they need to take time off work to meet with professionals such as lawyers. The stress of separation even causes some employees to leave their jobs, incurring a high cost for employers to replace them.
How The Separation Guide helps separating employees
The Separation Guide is an independent guide to separation and divorce in Australia. It is a comprehensive online resource that supports people through their separation from start to finish, providing access to resources and services designed to reduce the time, cost and stress of separation.
Using a personalised approach that is tailored to the individual needs of separating people, The Separation Guide is designed to help them navigate a typically complex process in a self-paced, structured and guided way. This empowers separating people to feel more in control, giving them confidence to work towards an outcome that is beneficial to them, their ex-spouse and their children.
By simplifying the process and providing access to specialist professional financial, legal and emotional support as and when it is needed, The Separation Guide helps improve the mental fitness, resilience and overall wellbeing of people going through separation.
Download our new e-book, 7 Reasons to Add The Separation Guide to Your EAP to find out how offering access to this life-changing resource via your EAP can improve employee wellbeing and workplace performance.
Why de-escalation is the key to more productive separation
A poorly managed separation is destined to cost more in terms of time, money and stress. A ‘bad’ or acrimonious divorce can cost as much as $400,000 per person, more than three years of tension and untold stress for everyone involved. Poor communication and no access to support services for advice and guidance can cause conflict to escalate and set separating couples on an inevitable path towards court.
By contrast, people who use The Separation Guide can have a ‘good’ separation that reduces conflict, costs less than $10,000 per person and removes nearly six months of high stress. De-escalation is not only key for people separating, it is also proven to be the number one way to protect employers from severe productivity loss.
Better outcomes for employees, and their employers
The Separation Guide is a proven way for people to better manage the process of separation, and to reduce the financial, legal and emotional costs that can be incurred. We’ve helped almost half a million people
people reduce the cost, conflict and conclusion of separation, and more than 52% of these separations have ended in amicable outcomes.
Not only does this make a difference to employee wellbeing, but it also reduces the risks to employers and improves workplace wellbeing.
Strengthen your EAP with The Separation Guide
The Separation Guide is a valuable addition to any EAP. Not only will it improve employee wellbeing as part of a focus on employee health and safety, but it will promote a positive and cohesive workplace that will be appreciated by all employees. Promoting ‘whole of person’ wellbeing by adding The Separation Guide to your EAP will enhance employee loyalty and commitment to the organisation.
It will also help improve EAP utilisation rates – 83% of people who complete the Q&A on The Separation Guide website create a SupportHub account, and of those, 85% come back to the site weekly during their separation.
More than just access to mental health support to cope with the stress of separation, The Separation Guide is a comprehensive, step-by-step guide to help simplify the process of separation for people, empower them to manage their separation with confidence, and improve their overall wellbeing.
*Data from survey of 568 people that compared the outcomes for those who had used The Separation Guide and those who hadn’t.
