Employment Practices Liability Insurance (EPLI)

Protect Your Business From Employee-Related Lawsuits

You work hard to build a great team and create a positive workplace. But even businesses that do everything they can to treat employees fairly can face allegations of wrongful employment practices.

Employment Practices Liability Insurance (EPLI) helps protect your business from the financial impact of certain employment-related claims and lawsuits.

At Blue Marsh Insurance, we help Pennsylvania businesses understand their employment liability risks and find coverage designed to protect the business they’ve worked hard to build.

What Is Employment Practices Liability Insurance?

Employment Practices Liability Insurance, commonly called EPLI, is business insurance designed to help protect employers against claims involving alleged wrongful employment practices.

These claims can come from current employees, former employees, and even job applicants.

Depending on the policy, EPLI may help cover legal defense costs, settlements, judgments, and other expenses associated with a covered employment-related claim.

And here’s something many business owners don’t realize: your standard General Liability or Business Owners Policy (BOP) may not provide coverage for these types of lawsuits.

That can leave a potentially expensive gap in your business insurance program.

What Does EPLI Insurance Cover?

Coverage varies by insurance company and policy, but EPLI may provide protection for claims involving:

• Wrongful termination
• Discrimination
• Sexual harassment
• Workplace harassment
• Retaliation
• Failure to hire or promote
• Wrongful discipline
• Employment-related defamation
• Invasion of privacy
• Certain wage and employment-related allegations, depending on the policy

One of the biggest benefits of EPLI is legal defense coverage. Even when an allegation is ultimately found to be without merit, defending your business can still be costly.

Does My Small Business Really Need EPLI?

EPLI isn’t just coverage for large corporations with hundreds of employees.

If your business has employees—or plans to hire employees—you have employment practices liability exposure.

Consider how many employment decisions your business makes throughout the year. You hire people. You conduct interviews. You determine compensation. You give performance reviews. You promote employees. You discipline employees. And sometimes, you have to terminate employees.

Any of those interactions could potentially lead to an allegation against your business.

A small business may actually have more at stake because it may not have an in-house HR department or legal team to help manage employment issues.

Doesn’t Workers’ Compensation Cover Employee Claims?

Workers’ Compensation and EPLI protect your business from very different risks.

Workers’ Compensation Insurance generally addresses job-related injuries and illnesses.

Employment Practices Liability Insurance addresses certain allegations involving how employees or applicants are treated in the workplace.

For example, an employee injured while working may have a Workers’ Compensation claim. An employee alleging they were terminated because of their age, however, could create an employment practices liability claim.

Businesses may need both coverages as part of a well-rounded insurance program.

How Much Does EPLI Insurance Cost?

There isn’t one standard price for Employment Practices Liability Insurance.

Insurance companies may consider factors such as:

• Number of employees
• Type of business
• Annual payroll
• Claims history
• Hiring and termination practices
• Employee handbook and HR procedures
• Coverage limits and deductible
• Other characteristics of your business

Our team can review your business and help you compare appropriate EPLI options.

Can EPLI Be Added to My Current Business Insurance?

In some situations, Employment Practices Liability coverage can be added to an existing business insurance policy through an endorsement. Other businesses may benefit from a separate EPLI policy.

The right approach depends on your business, number of employees, existing coverage, and the protection offered by your insurance company.

That’s why it’s important to look beyond whether you simply “have EPLI” and understand what your specific policy actually covers.

Help Protect Your Business Before a Claim Happens

No business owner expects an employee lawsuit.

Unfortunately, waiting until an allegation is made is too late to add coverage for that claim.

At Blue Marsh Insurance, we’ll help you review your current business insurance, identify potential coverage gaps, and determine whether Employment Practices Liability Insurance makes sense for your company.

As an independent insurance agency, we can explore coverage options from multiple insurance companies to help you find protection that fits your business.

Talk to Blue Marsh About EPLI Coverage

Have employees? It may be time to take a closer look at your employment liability exposure.

Contact Blue Marsh Insurance today to request an EPLI quote or review your current business insurance coverage.