HR and Supervisory Services

Personal events and problems, both in the office and outside of work, can sometimes cause changes in performance, attendance, attitude, or behavior. A Formal Management Referral is a service available to managers and supervisors to encourage employees to seek assistance and to solve these issues, while allowing managers to focus on the duties of the job.

A Formal Management Referral (also called a Supervisory Referral) is typically used as an intervention to avoid more severe disciplinary action or even and employee’s loss of job. Given the cost to recruit, hire and train employees, if a personal problem can be addressed through counseling, both the company and he employee many avoid unnecessary hardships and costs.

Steps for a Formal Management Referral

The first step for any Formal Management Referral is to contact your HR Department to confirm your organization’s required internal reporting and protocols. Once done, contact Capital EAP and speak to a Clinical Care Specialist who will walk you through the next steps:

1). Know Your Internal HR Procedures

It is advisable that before contacting Capital EAP, the Initiating Agent (Manager, Supervisor, HR personnel, etc.) be familiar with your organization’s internal procedures and protocols for documenting discipline or initiating a Management Referral.

2). Register Your Referral

Call us at (518) 465-3813 and select Option 2 to speak to a counselor and register the Management Referral. If all counselors are busy, leave a message and we will return your call promptly.

3). Tell Us What’s Going On

When you call, our Clinical Care Specialist will ask a series of questions about the behaviors of the employee, any prior corrective actions taken, and the outcome expectations from any counseling we may recommend. The Clinical Care Specialist will answer any questions you have about the process, and make recommendations for how to approach the conversation with your employee.

• Please be prepared to supply any prior disciplinary documentation relevant to the situation.
• Review Capital EAP’s Management Referral Disclosure document.

4). Talk to Your Employee

Focus on the work performance issues and do not try to diagnose personal problems. Never suggest your own opinions regarding the possible reasons for an employee’s personal problems. Clarify that you are referring the employee to Capital EAP. Inform your employee that it is voluntary not mandatory for them to contact Capital EAP. If they choose to contact Capital EAP, all information shared with the counselor is confidential. If they choose not to contact Capital EAP and their work performance continues to deteriorate, then further disciplinary measures, or even termination, may be taken.

5). Review and Have Employee Sign the Disclosure

You will provide this to your employee and they will need to sign it, before scheduling counseling. Employees should be offered a copy of this document, but the employer is responsible for returning it to Capital EAP.

If you do not have the Management Referral Disclosure you can request it when you call, or download it from the Printable Forms section of this site after log-in.

6). Send Capital EAP the Signed Disclosure

You can fax or email us the acknowledgement. Details are on the bottom of the form.

Please note, your employees may contact Capital EAP for counseling and support at any time, within the limits of their benefits, without notifying you. However, only after you have called us to register a Management Referral and sent us a signed disclosure, are we permitted to acknowledge that an employee has contacted Capital EAP.

Follow up to a Management Referral

• • Once the employee contacts Capital EAP to schedule their first appointment we will send a message to the Initiating Agent (Supervisor or HR manager).

• • The Initiating Agent will be notified as appointments are scheduled or missed.

• • Unless the employee has given consent, the details of any conversation are not conveyed to any organization personnel. It is a violation of HIPAA law to disclose any medical information to any other person without written consent.

• • The Management Referral will conclude with a finial communication to the Initiating Agent with regards to the outcome and disposition. This is typically an acknowledgement that the employee has or has not agreed to follow the recommendations of the counselor.

About Informal Management Referrals

An Informal Management Referral is commonly understood to mean recommending or reminding an employee that Capital EAP services are available when a Supervisor recognizes that an employee may be struggling with an issue.

Because of the legal risks to employers, it is important that all organizations have specific rules for Supervisors to follow with regards to how informal referrals are made, or even if they should be made.

Capital EAP recommends that any organization permitting informal referrals seek Capital EAP training on how best to approach both Formal and Informal Management Referrals.