How do you know if your business needs Employment Practices Liability Insurance (EPLI)? You have heard a million times that small business owners wear “many hats.” As a small business owner you are well aware just how many hats you wear because if you are like me (owner of O’Connor Insurance) there are some days your head hurts from putting one on just to rip it off and put on the next hat. One of the hats business owners wear is supervising employees. If you have employees then you need to understand Employment Practices Liability Insurance and the insurance coverage it could provide for your business. You may have had some training in a prior career on managing employees or for many of us the training has been on the job.
Supervising employees is a special skill set. Not only do you need to comply with state and federal laws but it is your responsibility to stay informed and up-to-date when changes are made. You also have to have the magic ingredients of being approachable, fair, and consistent (to name just a few) in order to attract and retain a really great team of employees. Your businesses success depends on the quality team you build and keep to take care of your clients.
While you are working hard to make sure you are a good supervisor there are instances where an employee may claim you have failed in the workplace. You could find yourself being sued for discrimination based on sex, race or age, harassment, or even wrongful termination. The cost to defend yourself can be astronomical. You can opt to self-insure for situations like that by paying for the defense out of pocket or you can purchase insurance to protect your business by purchasing Employment Practices Liability Insurance also knows as EPLI. The larger your team of employees the more likely it is that you may find yourself in a situation where you need EPLI. Even a very small business with just 1 employee may find the Employment Practices Liability Insurance is very cost effective.
Over the many years O’Connor Insurance has been in business there have been several times I needed human resource help to ensure all the laws are being followed and best practices are in place for hiring and firing employees. Since I don’t have a human resource person on staff (one of the hats I wear) I have relied on the professional team at HRS&S Consulting. HRS&S Consulting provides outsourced HR support for small businesses. HR support can be invaluable in helping you to retain key employees, ensure you are in compliance with state and federal laws, and just as a resource for things like putting together an employee handbook.
One of the great services HRS&S provides are webinars to keep clients informed and provide special training. They were kind enough to give me permission to share an upcoming webinar titled Workplace Harassment Training. There is no fee to attend the training. If you have managers who are responsible for supervising employees this is a great opportunity to provide additional training to them as well as for yourself. Click here to register for the June 29th, 2017 seminar.
Educating yourself and your managers is the first step to preventing workplace harassment. Employment Practices Liability (EPLI) provides insurance coverage to protect your business. If you do not have this coverage or if you would like more information please call O’Connor Insurance at 704-510-8884 or email business@oianc.com to get more info. Employment Practices Liability (EPLI) coverage could literally save your business because the cost of an attorney to defend your business could put you out of business.
