EPLI

Restaurant Guard’s Employment Practices Liability Protection mitigates the unique set of risks that can threaten the health and sustainability of a restaurant.

The employment practices liability insurance market is dealing with one major exposure change: fallout from the #MeToo movement. Learn how both insurers and employers are evolving to manage risk through new techniques.

Although employment practices liability insurance has been around since the 1990s, there’s still essentially no standardization among EPLI coverage forms. Here are five crucial coverage elements to watch out for.

Independent agent Warner Phelps used to be “able to use the absence of EPLI coverage to open conversations with prospects,” he says. “Now, insureds already have the coverage in force. Therefore, the conversation turns to coverage, limits and understanding

Between 1991, when Clarence Thomas’s U.S. Senate confirmation hearing was dominated by talk of sexual harassment, and 2017, which saw the birth of #MeToo, the EPLI market evolved enormously.

Independent agent Mary Pursell has observed major changes in the EPLI market. “Originally, EPLI policies covered sexual harassment, discrimination and wrongful termination,” she says. “Now, coverage definitions are expanding.”

As accounts of inappropriate workplace behavior continue to be shared on a national scale, more employers are beginning to recognize their employment practices exposure—and are seeking information on managing potential risks.

As accusations and harassment cases continue capturing headlines in 2018, a new best practice for businesses and organizations is emerging: investing in an employment practices liability insurance policy.

Wage and hour is now the fastest-growing type of employment practices claim. But with rare exceptions, D&O and EPLI policies do not provide wage and hour coverage—nor do they provide coverage for personal liability arising out of wage and hour.

Employment practices liability insurance is just as important as workers compensation coverage, says independent agent Tim Clarke. But most clients don’t understand how much they need it.