Employment Practices Liability Insurance
Most employers feel they strive every day to treat employees fairly and according to the law. Unfortunately, mistakes happen, feelings get hurt, and economic uncertainties make employment practices lawsuits more frequent occurrences in today’s workplace.
Insurance Center of North Jersey understands the need businesses have today for adequate employment practices liability insurance protection and can help you get the coverage your business needs to protect your interests.
What is Employment Practices Liability Insurance?
Sometimes referred to as EPLI, this vital business insurance coverage offers protection to the business against lawsuits claiming discrimination in the hiring practices as well as treatment during employment. The range of claims this particular coverage protects businesses against is wide and includes the following:
- Discrimination
- Retaliation
- Wrongful Termination
- Failure to Promote
- Negligent Evaluation
- Failure to Employ
- Wrongful Discipline
- Wage and Hour Violations
- Sexual Harassment
This list is hardly exhaustive. The thing to remember is that accusations themselves can be quite costly with prolonged courtroom battles, settlements, and jury awards. Even if you’re ultimately exonerated, the costs of defending your business can be substantial. That’s part of the reason it’s so important to invest in adequate EPLI insurance coverage. Whether you’re a small business or a large commercial business, this is one type of insurance coverage any business with employees can’t afford to miss.
Certain areas, such as violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA), Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and certain state employment laws are often excluded from EPLI policies, so be sure to discuss what is and isn’t covered with your local independent insurance agent.
Why Do Businesses Need EPLI Insurance Coverage?
Businesses need this particular type of coverage for a wide range of reasons. These reasons will vary from industry to industry, of course, and according to the management team you have in place.
Some of the more common reasons to make the investment include the following:
- Costs of litigation.
- Settlement expenses.
- Complexities of employment laws and legal precedence.
- Mistakes in handling people/employees.
- Failing to manage and/or discipline problem employees (those who harass other employees) effectively.
It’s important for businesses to manage employee problems as they arise, keep records of all disciplinary action, and to be consistent with enforcement of policies across the board to avoid any appearance of impropriety or unfair employment practices.
Why is the Need for Employment Practices Liability Insurance so Great Now?
It is more important now than ever before to invest in adequate EPLI coverage. There are many factors that are working together to create a significant uptick in frequency of these types of lawsuits. Many of them have to do with the duration of the recession and the slow recovery.
Employees are more likely to seek legal action if they were laid off from jobs and have faced or are facing the prospect of long-term unemployment as a result. In these instances, the decision is purely economic in nature. However, there are times when it’s purely emotional.
Why Trust Insurance Center of North Jersey with this Insurance Decision?
We have a long history of serving North Jersey. Eighty years, as a matter of fact. From our Maywood, NJ office, we serve New York and Pennsylvania as well as the state of New Jersey.
We’re also an independent agency, which means we work with multiple carriers in order to find the best policy at the best price for your EPLI coverage.