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EAP Implementation & Operations

Creating a 2027 EAP Budget | How to Allocate Counseling, Assessment, Programs, and Operations Costs

2026.10.19 11:50

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EAP · Psychological Counseling

EAP budget during the budget season in October and November One line: 'Same amount as last year' If you submit it as is, you are likely to get stuck on the finance team's first question: "How many people used it last year?" This article outlines the steps for creating next year's budget proposal by dividing the EAP budget into five categories and attaching formulas and justifications to each.

short answer
The EAP budget is ① Consultation fee ② Diagnostic fee ③ Program fee ④ Operation and management fee ⑤ Reserve fund It is easier to explain if you divide it as follows. Counseling fees are calculated as 'number of subjects × estimated utilization rate × average number of sessions per person × unit price per session,' diagnosis and programs as 'number of subjects or sessions × unit price,' and operational management costs are treated as fixed costs under the contract. Do not set the utilization rate as a single number. Three scenarios: maintenance, standard, and expansion Please present it as follows. While the implementation of EAP itself is a duty of effort under the Framework Act on Workers' Welfare, guaranteeing the anonymity of workers during implementation is mandatory; therefore, only aggregated values, not individual usage details, are used as the basis for the budget.

📌 Why Should the EAP Budget Be Divided by Item?

The finance team and management usually ask about three things regarding the EAP budget. How much was actually spent last year The question is why you will increase or decrease it next year, and what will be omitted if the amount is reduced. It is difficult to answer this question with just a single line regarding the total amount.

By dividing the items, you can explain the reasons for changes on an item-by-item basis, such as “maintaining counseling at this year’s level, newly adding job stress diagnosis,” and you can also predetermine which items to cut first when the budget is adjusted. Comparing contract methods such as session-based and fixed-fee systems is EAP Cost Structure Q&A Since it was covered separately elsewhere, this article is Order of drafting the annual budget Focus on.

🧾 5 EAP Budget Items and Formula

item	Included	Formula	Supporting data
① Consultation fee	Individual psychological counseling (in-person, phone, video, chat), family counseling, financial and legal counseling	Target population × Estimated utilization rate × Average sessions per person × Unit price per session (The fixed fee is the annual contract amount)	Number of actual users from the previous year, total sessions (vendor report), quoted unit price
② Diagnosis fee	Job Stress and Mental Health Diagnosis, Results Report	Target population × Estimated participation rate × Unit price per person	Purpose of diagnosis, scope of participation, estimate
③ Program fee	Manager training, special lectures for all employees, group programs, challenges and campaigns, preparation for on-site crisis support	Number of sessions per program × Cost per session	Reasons for choosing the program, such as last year's counseling topics and diagnostic results
④ Operating and maintenance costs	Platform/App, Regular Reports, Promotional Materials, Dedicated Operations	Contractual annual fixed costs	Scope of Inclusion in Contracts and Quotations
⑤ Reserve fund	Year-round crisis response, increased usage, changes in target population	Subtotal × Internal Standard Ratio	Internal budget guidelines (no statutory standards)

You may change the item names to match the company budget account. The important thing is For each item, the formula and supporting data are on a single line. It is whether it is attached.

🧮 Here is how the consultation fee is calculated

Counseling fees account for a significant portion of the EAP budget and fluctuate considerably every year. Determine the four numbers in order.

Target Personnel — Match the quotation criteria by determining whether it is based on employees, includes family members, and incorporates affiliates or dispatched personnel.
Expected usage rate — We establish the starting point as the number of actual users from the previous year ÷ the target number. If there is no track record due to a new introduction, we request a range of similar scale and industry from the company and indicate in the report that this is an assumption.
Average session per person — It is the total number of sessions from the previous year ÷ the number of actual users. Even if the utilization rate is not high, if the average number of sessions per person is increasing, it serves as evidence that employees who need counseling are making sufficient, continuous use.
Session unit price — Based on the quotation. If unit prices differ between in-person and non-face-to-face services, a weighted average is calculated based on usage proportion.

Calculation example (virtual value)
Assuming a target audience of 500 employees, an estimated usage rate of 5%, a family usage rate of 25% (relative to employee users), and an average of 4 sessions per person, there are 25 employee users + 7 family members = 32 people, totaling 128 sessions. Multiplying this by the quoted unit price yields the consultation fee. These figures are based on assumptions for illustrative purposes and do not represent the industry average.

If it is a fixed-rate contract, the consultation fee is fixed at the contract amount, but if you calculate the expected number of sessions using the same formula Whether to exceed the term included in the contract You can check in advance.

📊 Usage rate with 3 scenarios instead of a single number

scenario	Utilization Rate and Session Assumptions	Program home	Words used when reporting
repair	Performance unchanged from the previous year	Same number as the previous year	Minimum budget to maintain this year's level
standard	Reflecting next year's operational goals (strengthening promotion, adding consultation channels, etc.)	Includes new diagnosis and education	Requested budget
enlargement	Upper limit when increasing promotions/programs	Additional preparations for group programs and crisis support	Basis for determining upper limits when usage increases and reserve funds

If you show the standard scenario as the requested budget and the scope of repairs and expansions together, you can explain “why this amount” and “what happens if it is short” in one page.

📥 An Excel file that automatically calculates 3 scenarios and supporting statements for reporting when you input the number of employees, previous year's performance, and quoted unit prices EAP Budget Scenario Table You can get it from the text.

📅 6 Steps to Drafting a Budget

STEP 1. Organize previous year's performance into aggregated values.

Transfer the monthly new users, counseling sessions, average waiting time, satisfaction level (along with the number of responses), and major categories of counseling topics from the vendor report. Individual usage details are neither collected nor recorded. This is because anonymity must be guaranteed when implementing EAP to prevent the infringement of workers' secrets (Article 83, Paragraph 2 of the Framework Act on Workers' Welfare).

STEP 2. Setting Next Year's Operational Goals

For example, these are goals such as improving counseling accessibility for shift workers, establishing new training for managers, and integrating diagnostic results into programs. Goals are necessary to explain the numbers in the baseline scenarios.

STEP 3. Fill in the formulas for each item

Fill in the number of personnel, frequency, and unit price according to the formulas in the table of the five items above. Standardize the unit price to include or exclude VAT.

STEP 4. Comparison of 3 Scenarios

We place the sum of compensation, standards, and expansion, the budget per employee, and the rate of change compared to the previous year's execution side by side.

STEP 5. Matching with the contract method

If it is a session-based system, check the unit price for excess sessions and the approval procedure in the contract; if it is a fixed-price system, check the included sessions, handling of unused sessions, and conditions for exceeding the limit. The criteria for comparing quotes are Items to check when comparing EAP implementation costs and quotes Please refer to this.

STEP 6. Organize Report Sentences

Write the number, reason, and adjustment order as a single unit. Example: “The baseline scenario is the amount based on maintaining the previous year’s average number of sessions per person and adding two sessions of manager training; if the budget is adjusted, we will reduce the expanded group programs first while maintaining the counseling fees.”

💡 Evidence to show when previous year's usage rate is low

A low utilization rate does not mean that the budget needs to be reduced. By placing the statistics below alongside the utilization rate, you can explain how the system is being used.

reason	showing	Confirmation location
Trend in average sessions per person	Whether the staff member who used the service continues the consultation sufficiently	Company Annual Report
Proportion of major categories of counseling topics	Tasks for the company to address together, such as job stress	Company Reports (Major Categories Only)
Average Waiting Time and Peak Reservation Periods	Accessibility, demand at specific times	Operation Report
Satisfaction (including number of responses)	Service quality	Satisfaction Survey
Changes in new usage after promotion and education	Awareness improvement effect	Monthly new users

The operational method of concentrating sessions on employees in need of counseling within a fixed budget and increasing the average number of sessions per person Securities Firm EAP Operation Cases You can view it at. The method to check the usage rate is Operational elements to check when EAP utilization is low I organized it in.

⚖️ Things to check in the statutes | Distinguishing between obligations and grounds

division	detail	reason
court Anonymity guaranteed	When implementing an EAP, anonymity must be guaranteed to ensure that employees' secrets are not violated. An exception applies when the participating employee has consented to the subjects and content of the disclosure.	Article 83, Paragraph 2 of the Framework Act on Labor Welfare, and Article 55 of the Enforcement Decree
duty of effort	Employers must strive to implement employee support programs that assist in resolving factors hindering work performance, such as stress in work or daily life and personal grievances.	Article 83, Paragraph 1 of the Framework Act on Labor Welfare
Related measures	If health damage occurs or there is a significant risk of it occurring due to verbal abuse by customers, etc., necessary measures must be taken, and treatment and counseling support are among those measures.	Article 41, Paragraph 2 of the Industrial Safety and Health Act, Article 41 of the Enforcement Decree
Related measures	It is stipulated that for jobs with high job stress, stress factor assessment and improvement, and health promotion programs should be implemented (EAP is not specified).	Article 669 of the Rules on Industrial Safety and Health Standards
Budget linkage	If job stress or verbal abuse is identified as hazardous or dangerous factors in risk assessments, you can consider including an EAP in the occupational safety and health budget as a means of improvement.	Article 4, Paragraph 4 of the Enforcement Decree of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act

In the report EAP budgeting is a statutory obligation Please be careful not to write it like that. It is more accurate to summarize it as follows: “If EAP is implemented, guaranteeing anonymity is mandatory, EAP implementation is a duty of effort, and it is one of the measures related to job stress and customer interaction.”

🏦 Things to consider based on funding and company size

Employee Welfare Fund — The fund may be used for livelihood assistance for workers, projects specified in the Articles of Association, etc. (Article 62 of the Framework Act on Workers' Welfare; Article 46 of the Enforcement Decree). Since there are no provisions explicitly mentioning EAP, please check the regulations in the Articles of Association and the procedures of the Welfare Fund Council first.
Companies with fewer than 300 employees Companies with fewer than 300 permanent employees covered by employment insurance and their current employees can utilize the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) on the Korea Workers' Welfare Service's KWWS Net (up to 7 times per year per individual, and free for companies for the first three years of use). Eligibility is determined based on the total workforce of the headquarters corporation, so please verify eligibility when preparing the budget for affiliates.

✅ Checklist Before Submitting the Budget

number

☐ The criteria for the number of eligible personnel (whether family members, affiliates, or dispatched personnel are included) are the same as the quotation criteria.

☐ I checked the previous year's usage rate and average sessions per person through the company report.

☐ The VAT standard for all unit prices has been unified into a single standard.

☐ We calculated the sum of the three scenarios and the budget per employee.

reason

☐ For every item added or newly included, there is a single line explaining the reason.

☐ In addition to the usage rate, session trends, major thematic categories, waiting times, and satisfaction were included.

☐ I determined the order of items to reduce when the budget is adjusted.

personal information

☐ Individual usage history and consultation details were not included in the data.

☐ The totals for departments with fewer personnel are grouped together and reported.

⚠️ Common mistakes

Copy previous year's amount — The target number of people or operational goals have changed, but only the amount is transferred as is.
Reduce utilization rate to a single number — Reduce based solely on usage rate, without looking at the average number of sessions, topics, or waiting days per person.
Discrepancy in quotation standards The budget is based on employees, while the estimate includes family members, so the amounts do not match.
Mixing program fees with counseling fees — Since education and diagnosis are included in the counseling fee, it is not visible what has increased.
Funded without reserves — If a crisis response occurs during the year, other items will be reduced to make up for it.

❓ FAQ

Q1. Since this is a new introduction, what should be done if there is no performance record from the previous year?

Request the aggregation range of customers of similar size and industry from the company, and create maintenance, standard, and expansion scenarios by indicating that they are assumptions. For the first year, it is recommended to check the rate of fiscal year depletion quarterly and reflect it in the second-year budget.

Q2. How do you budget if family counseling is included?

Rather than increasing the eligible number based on the number of family members, it is more realistic to calculate it separately based on the ratio of family usage to employee usage. Please also check the quotation conditions to see if family members share the fiscal limit with the employee.

Q3. How much reserve fund do you keep?

There are no statutory standards. You should follow internal budget guidelines, but determine the ratio based on whether provisions for on-site crisis support have been separately allocated within the program budget.

Q4. What if the Finance Team requests usage rates by department?

Explain using company-wide figures, and it is recommended to provide grouped departmental figures, as small numbers could lead to individual identification. Also, inform them that guaranteeing anonymity is a legal requirement when implementing EAP.