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EMPLOYMENT PRACTICES LIABILITY INSURANCE
What You Need
To Know About Employment
Practices Liability Insurance
I
n 2016 in the United States alone,
the Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission (EEOC) received almost
100,000 complaints regarding
workplace discrimination in private,
federal, state, and local government
workplaces. It can be deduced that the
Canadian workplace is seeing a similar
increase in activity, despite our less
litigious nature.
Since the financial crisis over a decade
ago, Employment Practices claims filed
against employers have skyrocketed. Every
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employer faces the risk of an Employment
Practices claim, regardless if you have five
employees or 500. If an employee files a
suit against your company and you end
up settling outside the courtroom, that
settlement will come directly from your
bottom line. If the claim proceeds to court
where you are required to defend yourself
and your company, the defence costs can
quickly become paralysing. This is why
Employment Practices Liability Insurance
is such an important coverage.
You may think you are already carrying
coverage that will protect you, but
confirming that with a broker is the
best way to explore your possible
risk and ensure you have coverage.
General Liability policies carried
by most businesses do not include
coverage for Employment Practices
Liability, and when they do, it is a
small amount which will be quickly
eroded by defence costs. Directors
and Officers coverage can be blended
to include coverage for Employment
Practices, but you need to review
if the limits are shared between