10 Ways Your Insureds Can Avoid Discrimination Lawsuits
Don't Forget to Offer EPL Coverage to Your Insureds
It is imperative that you make sure your clients are aware of how important EPL coverage is for their business. Our team is here to discuss your clients' needs anytime. Reach out to Lexi at lexi@cidinsurance.com for more information and quotes.
10 Tips for Employers to Avoid Being Sued
The pandemic has created unique challenges for employers as many of their employees began working from home. Unfortunately, the pandemic also forced many employers to reduce staff and eliminate some positions altogether. This has caused an increase in charges and complaints alleging employment discrimination. It has become common for an employee to allege that their performance had been exemplary and that these unfortunate employment decisions were pretext for discrimination. These 10 tips can help employers reduce their chances of being sued for discrimination claims.
- Keep an open line of communication with your employees and supervisors. It is critical that an employer discuss performance issues with their employees as the situation unfolds as opposed to waiting up to a full year for an annual review. Employees cannot address their performance issues if they are unaware of them.
- Follow Your Policies. Let’s say, for example, the employer has a progressive discipline policy and terminates the employee without providing an oral or written warning. That employee may argue that the employer failed to provide them with a fair warning and likely that their termination was the result of discrimination, i.e. age, disability, race, gender.
- Document Everything. Managers should be directed to keep documentation in each employee’s personnel file. For example, if the employer has a meeting with an employee about job performance issues, policy violations, etc., that should be documented with the date the document is drafted, author of the document and details of the meeting.
- Keep Organized Personnel Files. It is important for employers to keep organized personnel files of each employee including hiring records, performance reviews, disciplinary actions and job descriptions. The Americans with Disability Act requires that employers keep medical records confidential and separate from personnel files.
- Be Consistent. Employers should be consistent in the way they apply their policies. For instance, if a manager writes up an employee for being late, then all employees should be written up for being late. Applying your policies consistently with all employees will help reduce the claim of unequal treatment.
- Provide Employees with Explanations. Employees tend to jump to conclusions that they were discriminated against when employers fail to provide them with an explanation for an adverse employment action against them. Employers should aim to leave no room for speculation about the employer’s rationale behind such decisions.
- Train Your Employees. Employers should require that their employees be provided with discrimination training so that they understand what their policies entail. Employers should also require that their supervisors and managers be trained on how to enforce said policies.
- Acknowledgments for Personnel File. All discrimination policies should be documented with the employee’s signature acknowledging said policies. All training certificates should be kept in the personnel file, which will prove that the employee had knowledge of the discrimination policies.
- Schedule Meetings With Your Supervisors and Managers. It is critical to stay in touch with your supervisors and managers. Scheduling weekly or monthly meetings is a great way to stay in touch and ensure that they are communicating properly and documenting any performance issues.
- Hire Counsel. Before making any adverse employment decisions (i.e. demotion, suspension, termination, layoff), contact a local employment attorney to discuss how to best proceed to reduce the chances of a discrimination claim. Such action can help to mitigate what could become a costly claim and eventual lawsuit.
Make Sure Your Business Clients Maintain a Strong EPL Policy
CID Insurance offers Employment Practices Liability Insurance to our retail brokers' business clients. It is imperative for businesses to hold this coverage and prevent having a potential claim. Our Professional Liability underwriter, Lexi Johnson, can assist you with quotes for your clients. You can find applications on our website here.
Marketing Tools to Write More EPL Policies
Our team has created marketing flyers you can customize with your agency information and use to market your agency for more EPL policies. One flyer focuses on why businesses need Employment Practices Liability coverage. The other marketing flyer includes more information on coverage features. You can also find Professional Liability Proposal Templates on our website.
When you're ready to submit for a quote, send applications to submissions@cidinsurance.com.