Employment Practices Liability Insurance (EPLI)
Employment practices liability insurance, known in the trade as EPL insurance or EPLI, provides coverage to employers against claims made by employees alleging:
- Discrimination (based on sex, race, age or disability, for example)
- Wrongful termination
- Lack of compliance with the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
- Harassment
- Other employment-related issues, such as failure to promote
EPLI has become increasingly important for employers, large or small, since the recent recession. The types of lawsuits and claims related to employment issues that EPLIs cover - and the costs of addressing these claims without an adequate risk protection strategy can be crushing for small businesses. When companies are often more vulnerable to employment claims that’s because they usually lack a legal department or employee handbook detailing the policies and procedures that guide hiring, disciplining or terminating employees.
Important to Have & Do's
- Review potential loss exposures
- Have employee handbook
- Have job description for each position
- Conduct periodic performance reviews of employees
- Develop a screening and hiring program
- Have your employment application to state the equal employment opportunity statement.
- Conduct background checks of hiring candidates
- Record all employee documents regarding issues and how it was resolved.
As your enterprise grows, you become more than just a business; in the eyes of the federal government you are now an employer. As an employer, you must also maintain a safe and healthy workplace for employees. Those rules are enumerated in the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA).
You also have legally mandated responsibilities to protect your employees by preventing workplace harassment and discrimination, as specified in the Equal Employment Opportunity Act.
And you have to allow employees to take time off for life events, like births and deaths, as well as medical emergencies. So we’ll be discussing your responsibilities under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) as well.1
1.Employer Compliance | Federal Law OSHA, EEOC, FMLA | The Hartford https://www.thehartford.com/business-insurance/strategy/federal-regulations