Have you heard of EPLI, or employment practices liability insurance? If you haven’t, you may want to look into it. This kind of insurance can protect your company against devastating losses when an employee who perceives they have been wronged in some way brings a lawsuit against your company.
No employer wants to think that their workers would take such a drastic action against them, but, in truth, millions of dollars in lawsuits are filed every year by disgruntled employees. Some of these are frivolous; others are justified. Either way, such a suit can be devastating if you don’t have the right coverage. Read some important things that you may not know about employment practices liability insurance, and where to go to get the best comprehensive coverage.
Employment Practices Liability Insurance
EPLI stands for employment practices liability insurance. This kind of coverage exists to defend your business against workers who file lawsuits claiming you have violated their rights under employment laws. Such lawsuits have been rising seriously over recent years. Most of these are filed against major corporations, but no business is immune to the threat.
What Does EPLI Cover?
Although EPLI is not standardized coverage, most policies will cover a broad range of employment related exposures such as:
- Sexual harassment
- Breach of contract claims
- Discrimination suits
- Failure to employ or promote
- Wrongful termination claims
- Mismanagement of employee benefits
- Emotional distress claims
- Deprivation of career opportunities
- Negligent employee evaluation claims
How EPLI Responds to a Claim.
Most EPLI Policies rely on an incident to trigger coverage. The incident can be an event that occurred in the workplace or a demand received from a plaintiff. Either way, the policy will usually respond by providing a claims person and defense counsel.
What Will EPLI Cost?
The cost of your EPLI policy will depend on a wide range of factors: the size of your business, the breadth of coverage you want, the number of employees you have, your business history and your type of business. If you’ve encountered such lawsuits in the past it may be more expensive to get insurance, for example. If you have a high employee turnover rate your premiums could likewise be higher.
Naturally, the best way to protect against these suits is to minimize the potential in the first place with solid, transparent and trackable policies and habits in your hiring, screening and corporate employment policies. If, however, you are in need of employment practices liability insurance in Las Vegas, call Harris Insurance today for more information and help building a policy custom-designed for your business.