Employment Practices Liability Insurance (EPLI) provides legal defense costs when a lawsuit alleging Harassment, Discrimination or Wrongful Termination is brought against your company. These defense costs are provided whether your company wins or loses in court. EPLI coverage will also pay for judgments and settlements as long as they are non-punitive. Here are some very good reasons to consider adding an employment practices liability insurance policy to your business insurance portfolio.
1. Sexual Harassment
Unfortunately, sexual harassment has become an all too common problem in the workforce today. Even more unnerving is the fact that many people lie about being sexually harassed at work just to spite a coworker or manager they don’t like. Rather than fearfully awaiting such a false claim, seek a peace of mind by adding this coverage.
2. Discrimination
Discrimination comes in many forms, age, sex, race and disability. As a business owner, you have to be very careful about the questions you ask in an interview. But it doesn’t stop there. Even though you may not discriminate against someone, it’s hard to control how your employees treat each other.
3. Wrongful Termination
A large number of employment practices related lawsuits come from unhappy former employees who feel they were let go for unfair reasons. Entities like the Department of Labor and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) investigate wrongful termination cases every day. With just a few mouse clicks, your disgruntled former employees could file a case against you on either of these entities websites. Destroying your company’s reputation and forcing you as a business owner to face a major setback.
4. Breach of Employment Contract
Not living up to your end of an employment contract with one of your employees can land you in hot water quickly. With the level of detail included in today’s contracts, it’s easy to miss any number of small, but very important, provisions.
5. Failure to Employ or Promote
While it’s understandable someone might feel slighted and decided to take action against their employer for not being promoted, it comes as a surprise to many companies that even prospective employees file lawsuits for not being hired. This has become more prevalent as the US job market has taken a downturn in recent years. This is different from professional liability insurance.
6. Mismanagement of Employee Benefit Plans
One of the fastest ways to make your staff angry with you is to mismanage their own money. Being in charge of an employee benefit plan carries with it a lot of responsibility, and can make you an easy target for a lawsuit.
Conclusion
In just a moment your company’s reputation and hard work could be in jeopardy because of false accusation. It is important that you educate your staff on proper practices, but more importantly you prepare for the unforeseen. More than ever, employees, former employees and even prospective employees are filing employment practices liability lawsuits. When an employee feels that their rights have been violated, it can feel overwhelming paying for lawyers and facing the media. With Employment Practices Liability Insurance coverage, it doesn’t have to be. For more information about EPLI coverage for your business, call our Atlanta Independent Insurance Company at (888) 800-4824.