Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
FOH Employee Assistance Program
Information and access to your program is available 24 hours a day, every day of the year. All you need to do is pick up the
phone and dial a toll-free number at 800-222-0364. A professional counselor is always there to speak with you.
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MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING
Between The US Citizenship and Immigration Service And AFGE Council 117
1) Purpose:
This Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) and the American Federation of Government Employees Council 117 is designed to clarify the administration of the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) within the USCIS.
2) Background
In March 2005, USCIS entered into a shared services agreement with Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to administer an Employee Assistance Program for USCIS. On March 25 2005, Council 117 demanded the opportunity to bargain over the impact and implementation of the change from the legacy-INS EAP model. This MOU is the result of bargaining consistent with the settlement, by the parties, of an Unfair Labor Practice complaint filed by the Union.
3) USCIS EAP Program
• The Agency's Employee Assistance Program, administered through the Federal Occupational Health (FOH), a component of the U.S. Public Health Service, Department of Health and Human Services, will provide free, confidential, in person counseling sessions with EAP approved service providers, for the purpose of assessment and referral, and/or for preliminary attempts to resolve employee problems. Up to four (4) sessions, may be used for each problem presented to the EAP, per employee and per family member, per year. Reasonable amounts of administrative leave will be granted to employees for such purposes, including travel time. Once the employee has been referred by EAP to a private provider, sick leave, annual leave or leave without pay may be used for visits to the private health care provider.
• Employees, at their option, may avail themselves of free, confidential telephonic assessment and referral sessions with EAP professionals in lieu of in-person clinical visits. In such cases, the Agency will make appropriate arrangements for administrative leave, including travel time to an appropriate site to make such calls. For employees who lack access to confidential telephone facilities at a work site or home location, the Agency will make appropriate arrangements at no expense to the employee.
• The Agency's Employee Assistance Program shall provide the full range of services offered by the FOH, including, but not limited to: counseling, referral, training and critical incident response.
• USCIS employees working overseas, including those on temporary duty, will have access to the FOH International Employee Assistance Program.
• The Union shall designate a point of contact for EAP matters. The Union point of contact will be identified on Agency and Union websites.
Effective Date: the new USCIS Employee Assistance Program shall become effective on or about April 1, 2006.
15 February 2006