If you don’t already have Employment Practices Liability Insurance (EPLI) on your Business Owner Insurance Policy, you should. EPLI can save a small business from financial disaster as 80% of all EPLI claims cost over $25,000 in defense costs and liability damage payments.
Employment Practices Liability Insurance Coverage is for claims made against your or your business for discrimination, wrongful termination, hostile work environment, equal pay, bullying, harassment, privacy breaches and violations of ADA, FMLA, and the Fair Employment Practices Act. Without this coverage, businesses have to defend themselves against claims made by employees, vendors, customers, and former business associates even if claim is baseless or filed years after the alleged incident.
Defense costs in these types of cases cost thousands of dollars regardless of who the court finds in favor of. Many small businesses don’t have the human resource professionals in house to develop personnel procedures and policies which can leave them wide open for these types of claims.
We get many business owners who say they don’t need this coverage because they don’t have any employees and are sole proprietors – but that doesn’t mean a claim can’t be made against them from a vendor or customer! If given the chance to pay for the coverage which costs about $55/employee (roughly) a year or paying thousands of dollars to defend yourself, which would you choose?
Getting An Employment Practices Liability Insurance Policy
Up until this past year, most companies did not offer Employment Practices Liability Insurance on the Business Owner Policy, it had to be purchased as a separate policy. But now it is available with most business policies. It is very important that you review your policy to see if you have it or speak with your agent. You work so hard to make your business successful, don’t lose it due to an alleged wrongful employment act.
If you have specific questions about Employment Practices Liability Insurance, do not hesitate to contact us! We make it our priority to know how this coverage works for your business, and will be happy to answer your questions.