Who’s At Risk For A Employment Practice Liability Claim?
Any business owner – from a large CA corporation to a small brick and mortar operation – is at risk of having a claim filed against them by an employee the minute they begin interviewing possible employees. For instance, should the company decide that they don’t want to hire a candidate, he or she could allege discrimination and file a claim against the business.
If the business does end up hiring the person that was interviewed and ends up firing him or her later on as a result of poor attendance, for example, that person could claim he or she was wrongfully terminated.
Whether the allegations are founded or not, whenever an employee files a claim against an employer, the company could face serious financial upheaval. This is where California employment practices liability insurance can help.
For example, a judge could find the company guilty and a settlement would have to be paid. And, even if the claim ends in favor of the business owner, the company will still have to pay legal fees and deal with any repercussions that surround a claim, such as a tarnished reputation.
Who Does CA EPLI Protect?
Most CA employment practices liability policies protect any claims that are brought against a business owner, the business itself, management, and in some cases, other employees. This insurance covers any claims that are filed against the above-mentioned by the following individuals:
- Past employees
- Potential employees
- Temporary employees
- For-hire employees
- Independent contractors
- Vendors
- Customers
What Does California Employment Practices Liability Insurance Cover?
California employment practices liability insurance provides coverage for the costs that are associated with various types of employee claims. Examples of claims include:
- Breach of employment contract
- Deprivation of career opportunity
- Discrimination
- Failure to employ or promote
- Mismanagement of employee benefit plans
- Negligent evaluation
- Sexual harassment
- Wrongful discipline
- Wrongful infliction of emotional distress
- Wrongful termination
What California Employment Practices Liability Insurance Doesn’t Cover
CA employment practices liability insurance typically does not cover:
- Actions that occurred outside of the United States
- Bullying
- Civil fines
- Claims of bodily injury
- Criminal fines
- Liabilities for acts of intentional or dishonest wrongdoing
- Penalties
- Property damage
- Punitive damages (can vary by state)
- Rest and meal times
- Social media usage
- The Consolidated Omnibus Reconciliation Act (COBRA) associated claims
- The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) associated claims
- The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) associated claims
- The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) associated claims
- Unemployment benefits
- Unpaid wages
- Workers compensation
How Much Does California Employment Practices Liability Insurance Cost?
How much does California employment practices liability insurance cost? The costs that are associated with a legal claim filed by an employee, customers or vendors can be astronomical. These costs can include legal fees, court fees, settlement fees, public relations, and anything else that occurs as a result of a lawsuit. Trying to cover those costs out of pocket could potentially ruin a business. Being covered by employment practices liability insurance will help to soften the financial blow that comes when and if an employee files a claim.
The cost of this insurance varies. There are a number of factors that are taken into consideration when determining the cost, such as the type of business that is being covered, the number of people the business employees, any claims that may have been filed against the business in the past, and the net-worth of the business.
An Ounce Of Prevention Is Worth A Pound Of Cure
To help prevent employee lawsuits, educate your managers and employees about your guidelines and acceptable behavior so that eliminate problems before they start. Following are some ideas you can implement in your business right away:
- Conduct background checks on all possible candidates.
- Conduct periodic performance reviews of employees and carefully note the results in the employee’s file.
- Create a job description for each position that clearly defines expectations of skills and performance.
- Create an effective record-keeping system to document employee issues as they arise, and what the company did to resolve those issues.
- Develop a screening and hiring program to weed out unsuitable candidates on paper before calling them to interview in person.
- Develop an employee handbook detailing your company’s workplace policies and procedures. It should include attendance, discipline, and complaints. The employee handbook should also contain an employment at-will statement and an equal employment opportunity statement.
- Document everything that occurs and the steps your company is taking to prevent and solve employee disputes.
- Institute a zero tolerance policy regarding discrimination, substance abuse and any form of harassment. Make sure you have a policy that allows employees to report infractions without fear of corporate retribution.
- Post policies in the workplace and place and also them in employee handbooks so policies are crystal clear to everyone.
- Show employees what steps to take if they are the object of sexual harassment or discrimination by a supervisor. Make sure supervisors know where the company stands on what behaviors are not permissible.
- Use an employment application that contains an equal employment opportunity statement along with a statement, that if hired, employment will be “at-will,” meaning their employment can be terminated at any time – for any reason or for no reason at all – with or without notice. Also ensure that your employment application does not contain any age indicators, such as date graduated high school, as this could increase your risk for age discrimination claims.
Further Reading On Management Liability Insurance
CA Employment Practices Liability Insurance Quotes
Request a California Employment Practices Liability Insurance quote in Anaheim, Bakersfield, Chula Vista, Concord, Corona, Elk Grove, Escondido, Fontana, Fremont, Fresno, Fullerton, Garden Grove, Glendale, Hayward, Huntington Beach, Irvine, Lancaster, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Modesto, Moreno Valley, Oakland, Oceanside, Ontario, Orange, Oxnard, Palmdale, Pasadena, Pomona, Rancho Cucamonga, Riverside, Roseville, Sacramento, Salinas, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Santa Ana, Santa Clara, Santa Clarita, Santa Rosa, Simi Valley, Stockton, Sunnyvale, Thousand Oaks, Torrance, Vallejo, Victorville, Visalia and all other cities in CA.
The California Department of Insurance
The CA Dept. of Insurance is the regulatory agency behind the insurance rules for the state of California. If you want to understand these rules, then this is definitely the agency that you need to focus on. Let’s start with limits within the state.
California Minimum Insurance Limits
- For auto insurance, California requires $15,000 per person and $30,000 per accident.
- For life insurance, there are certain regulations in place to determine how someone is able to get or offer life insurance, but there are no limits listed.
- For commercial insurance, insurance agents may offer broker or casualty insurance as well as covered property insurance, covered causes of loss, specified perils and open perils along with a number of coverage forms like builder’s risk, legal liability, building ordinance, glass, peak season, inflation guard and peak element.
CA Insurance Regulations
As for regular insurance regulations there are a lot of things that California provides that you can look up. For example, there are deadlines for the insurer to pay the claim or deny it, deadlines for submitting paperwork to prove a loss for insurance reimbursement, specific information your insurance company is required to give you and regulations on what information you have to provide to your insurance company.
One of the California regulations calls for you to be treated by your insurance company in good faith. This means that your insurer must be considered of your needs and must communicate completely and honestly with you about your policy and everything that you need to know about it in order to make a good decision. In turn, you are legally obligated to be honest and cooperative with your insurance company when it comes to your claim.
You should also be aware that your insurance company is required to offer prompt, honest and complete communications. The company and all of its representatives must respond to your communications within 15 calendar days with a complete response based upon the facts that are known.
Finally, be aware that your insurance company is required to have a fair claims process. Unless it is specified in your policy, you do not have to use the forms that are provided to you by your insurance provider in order to make a claim. You can create a list of losses on your own if you need to. In addition, insurers are not able to ask for unreasonable proof of loss. If you provide photographic evidence or video of items that you lost, insurers are not able to ask you to provide additional information.