Companies frequently adjust employee benefits in an effort to balance employee needs with budgetary demands. At any given period, the mix of benefits may reflect economic conditions, management philosophy, employee support and the introduction of new products and/or services. This session will present qualitative research methods to explore changes in EAP, Work-Life and Wellness benefits from a sample of firms over a fifteen-year period. Some of the early findings indicated the following trends: stressed firms were more likely to reduce benefits in general and outsource a variety of services. While firms in growing sectors tended to sustain or expand programs.

Objectives:
• describe of the history of these three fields - EAP, W/L and Wellness and their parallel growth patterns;
• discuss the concept of integration in the corporate sector.