The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) launched a new, toll-free telephone counseling service for employees today (Tuesday, 12 October 2004), as part of its Employee Wellness Programme.

The WCED initiated the Employee Wellness Programme (EWP) because it values the vital contribution that all staff members make to the success of the department. The provision of EWP is the practical way of demonstrating that the WCED has a sincere interest in the well being of its employees for effective service delivery.

The EWP aims to promoting the health and well-being of all WCED employees. This includes promoting their physical and mental health, a healthy lifestyle, wellness and their quality of life. The WCED employs about 28 500 teachers and 8 000 public servants.

The service provides expert counseling and advice on a wide range of issues relating to mental, emotional, physical, financial and legal help. These issues include, amongst others, depression, relationships, alcoholism, drug abuse, stress, debt, gambling, family problems, bereavement and health problems such as HIV/AIDS.

Qualified, experienced counselors provide the service in the three official languages of the Western Cape. It provides access to counseling during crises, as well as advice on life management in general.

The service assures privacy and confidentiality at all times. Those providing the service will not tell the WCED who is using the service, although the service providers will compile statistics for evaluation purposes. No information or data pertaining to any employee will be made available without written consent from the employee concerned.

The telephone counseling service is available 24 hours, seven days a week, for 365 days a year. For further information, consult the web page of the WCED’s Human Resource Development directorate at http://www.hrd.wcape.school.za.