Employment Practices Liability insurance
Employee lawsuits can be disastrously expensive without business insurance, especially for small businesses. Organizations can and should take steps to minimize potential losses that might stem from employee lawsuits. One of these steps might include purchasing Employment Practices Liability Insurance.
Employment Practices Liability insurance protects organizations against allegations and lawsuits by employees who claim their legal rights have been violated. EPL exposures have expanded from discrimination or harassment brought by employees to include a wide range of evolving exposures including accessibility, gender issues and disputes over performance reviews and promotion. (Sourced from Travelers Insurance)
“Employment Practices Liability WRONGFUL ACT” means any actual or alleged:
- Wrongful termination of employment;
- Discrimination or harassment adversely affecting any employee of or applicant for employment with the ENTITY;
- Wrongful deprivation of career opportunity or failure to employ or promote;
- Employment-related wrongful demotion, wrongful discipline, denial of training, negligent evaluation, misrepresentation or defamation;
- Retaliatory treatment against an employee on account of such employee’s exercise of his/her rights under law;
- Discrimination or harassment with respect to any past, present or prospective customers or clients of the ENTITY. (*THIRD PARTY EPL*)
Some stand-alone EPL policies additionally include:
- Wage and Hour Law claim coverage
- Public Relations coverage
Typical Coverage would be a $5,000-$15,000 deductible depending on the carrier, with coverage limits of $500,000/$1,000,000/$2,000,
EPL coverage can be added on as an endorsement or setup as an additional policy depending on the insurance carrier. The coverage is relatively inexpensive.
Once in place, it will help Contractors have the peace of mind that if they are sued by a past or present employee for the reasons above – they will be defended in the court, and only have to pay a moderate deductible. Employment Practices settlements often land in the $50,000-$100,000 range, and potentially higher based on the complexity of the case.
Some potential Claims examples (these are Sourced from Victor Insurance - https://www.victorinsurance.
Hostile Work Environment - Allegations were made by an employee that his employer had created a hostile work environment by failing to deal with bullying co-workers.
Defamation - A senior employee, whose employment was terminated, sued several directors for defamation following the publication of an “all staff” memo describing the termination.
Discrimination - An organization was faced with a complaint brought under human rights legislation by an employee who alleged that she had been discriminated against based on her race, colour, ancestry and ethnicity when she had been passed over for several promotion opportunities.
Wrongful Termination - A senior executive’s employment was terminated after allegations of sexual harassment were made against him by another employee of the organization. The executive sued his former employer for wrongful termination.
For some additional examples, I have had many clients in past that pay premiums of $50,000/$75,000/$100,000 and above for their Liability package, add-on Employment Practices Liability for approximately $1,600 additional annual premium.
About Dan Neves -
Dan is an Insurance Broker with over 10 years experience, specializing in Landscape & Snow Removal contractors’ insurance. As a broker that specializes in the industry, Dan can prepare a plan for a Contractor’s specific needs based on their Revenue, Claims history, Snow removal contracts, and Loss mitigation. He always ensures his clients get the RIGHT coverage they need at the BEST price.
Average savings for contractor’s Dan works with are anywhere from 20 to 40% on their insurance program.
If you'd like to contact Dan Neves from Nacora Insurance Brokers Ltd., you can reach him at 519-575-2917 or [email protected]
