New York City Police Department311Search all NYC.gov websites

The Employee Assistance Unit strictly adheres to rules of confidentiality, protecting the privacy of anyone who reaches out to us.

Procedurally, there are two circumstances in which EAU peer counselors cannot keep their discussion with employees confidential:

CONFIDENTIALITY CANNOT BE MAINTAINED IF:

  1. A person poses a clear and present danger to him or herself, or others.
  2. He or she has committed, confessed to, or revealed details of a serious crime.

When any one of the above revelations is made to an EAU peer counselor, he or she must make the appropriate notifications.

Some important things to note:

  • EAU peer counselors do not take notes of any kind during or after a “one-on-one” consultation that is voluntarily initiated by a member of the service.
  • If the member of the service is on duty at the time of the consultation, a record is maintained only to verify the MOS’s whereabouts.  Details of the interview are not recorded.
  • Current federal and state laws do not protect the confidentiality of any employee assistance program (EAP) contact as it does for mental health professionals, lawyers, or clergy.