Alberta Public Service Employee and Family Assistance Program

Overview

The Employee and Family Assistance Program (EFAP) is a confidential counseling and wellness resource service for Alberta Public Service employees (including wage employees) and their immediate family members. TELUS Health (formerly LifeWorks) delivers EFAP to APS employees. The Alberta Public Service Commission sponsors the program.

For more information, see the EFAP service brochure (PDF, 3.8 MB).

Eligibility

If you are an Alberta Public Service employee you and your eligible family members can access wellness resources and supports through the Employee and Family Assistance Program.

This includes employees who are:

• permanent
• contracted
• wage
• temporary
• on medical leave
• working in Alberta
• stationed nationally in Canada or at international Alberta government offices

Eligible family members include:

• a spouse
• partner
• dependent child

Dependent child is defined as up to 21 years of age and living in the home, or up to 25 years of age and attending post-secondary schooling living either in the home or away.

How to access services

You can access EFAP resources and services, including counselling, in several ways. Support is provided anywhere in Alberta or Canada and is available 24-hours a day, 7 days a week:

• over the phone at 1-800-268-5211 (English and French options available)
  • TTY: 1-877-338-0275
• in person (following health and pandemic guidelines)
• online
• through the free LifeWorks app

For employees posted nationally or internationally, refer to the EFAP Brochure for Expats (PDF, 422 KB).

Programs and services

EFAP is built on a foundation of short term and specialized counselling programs. Several programs focus on:

• addiction supports and relapse prevention
• depression
• anxiety and other mental health issues
• trauma support
• pandemic supports and returning to the workplace

LifeWorks offers a variety of online programs and professional consultation services. The online tools are designed to direct individuals on a step-by-step journey through discovery and awareness to decision making and issue resolution.

Employees and eligible family members can access:

• self-guided online tools, including questionnaires and self-assessments
• professional phone consultations with:
  • registered dieticians
  • naturopathic doctors
  • lawyers
  • registered nurses

Toolkits

LifeWorks has curated a number of toolkits that are available to GoA employees and their family members.  After logging in, users can find a quick link to toolkits organized into topics related to family, health, life, money and work. Toolkits provide links to articles, video and audio recordings, websites, blogs and book recommendations.

Services can be accessed through the LifeWorks online platform. Employees must first login. To request a consultation, call LifeWorks at 1-800-268-5211.

How to access LifeWorks online resources

• Visit LifeWorks and use the Log In box to enter your Government of Alberta email address (or GoA).
• This will take you to a Create Your LifeWorks Account page to verify your details. Once verified during this first login, you will not need to complete this step again.
• After this initial set up, you will only have to enter your employee email address (GoA) when logging in on a go forward basis on LifeWorks.

You can also download the LifeWorks app from your app store to access the platform.

Look for the LifeWorks icon when downloading the app:

If you experience any issues accessing the LifeWorks platform, go to the Lifeworks troubleshooting page or click on “Submit a Request”.

Contract workers also have full access to the LifeWorks platform. If a contract worker has difficulty accessing the platform, contact [email protected].

Adding family members to LifeWorks

• Once you are logged in to LifeWorks, go to your Profile in the menu on the top right hand side of the page.
• Under Profile, click on the button that says Family and invite eligible family members, through email address, to access services.

Employee EFAP orientation

The Public Service Commission sponsors EFAP orientation webinars for APS employees. Sessions are facilitated by LifeWorks and can be accessed through links in the webinar calendar (PDF, 467 KB). Registration is not required.

For further information about EFAP and LifeWorks services for APS employees, contact the Public Service Commission representative at [email protected].