Enhanced Life Strategy Counseling Program Coming in 2021
Beginning January 1, 2021, Life Strategy Counseling will offer new benefits to further help eligible participants with grief, addiction, work and family matters, and many other issues.
Among the program’s enhancements, eligible participants will have access to in-person consultations (up to five) with local counselors.
Additional enhancements will include:
- A new website containing articles, toolkits, audio recordings and videos to support individuals on a variety of issues
- New options to engage via video conferencing with a counselor, and live chat with a representative for questions or general help
No changes to existing benefits
Life Strategy Counseling remains available at no additional cost to employees, and their dependents over age 18, eligible to participate in the NRECA Medical Plan.
On top of new in-person consultations, counseling by phone is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Information shared during a consultation is confidential.
Life Strategy Counseling also can help with life’s everyday needs like helping individuals identify childcare and elder care, schools and legal resources in their community.
NRECA is partnering with a new vendor, LifeWorks, but the program phone number and access to the NRECA Employee Benefits website remains the same.
New promotional materials
To highlight the additional program benefits, we’ve updated materials on the BA Guide to be shared with your cooperative’s employees. New print materials will be available to order in 2021; please be sure to replace your existing materials with the updated materials at the start of 2021.
These materials, including a brochure, video and poster, are available at cooperative.com > My Benefits > BA Guide > Health & Well-being > Life Strategy Counseling.
Support for co-op management
Additionally, Life Strategy Counseling offers resources and services for managers surrounding employees’ performance and productivity.
Find dozens of articles, videos, audio recordings and more at cooperative.com My Benefits > BA Guide > Health & Well-being > Life Strategy Counseling, and click “LifeWorks website,” where you can search a topic or go to “For Managers” under the Work tab. Examples include:
- “Addressing Performance Issues”
- “Supporting a Culture of Work-Life Balance”
- “Making a Referral to the Assistance Program”
Note: You’ll have access to the LifeWorks website beginning January 1, 2021.
For an additional cost, services are available to help co-op management with traumatic events, critical incidents and substance abuse assessments.
For a comprehensive overview of resources and supporting tips for benefits administrators, see the “Resource Guide” within the BA Guide.