Your employees are one of your biggest assets. Experienced and quality workers are often hard to come by. When you hire a good employee, you want to do all you can to retain that person.
Part of your incentive package could be a health benefits plan managed through your business. But what happens when an employee gets sick and the forms they filled out were not sent to your insurance company? You have a problem unless you have employee benefits liability (EBL) coverage.
Whether you are a small business with a handful of employees or a large one with hundreds of people on the payroll, paperwork can be submitted incorrectly or misplaced by mistake. EBL insurance can provide coverage for your business should an employee make a claim against you for the kinds of mistakes that lead to accidental omissions on a benefits form or a delayed enrollment in a benefits program. While health insurance is what first comes to mind, this coverage can also apply to these areas:
- IRA or 401(k) plans.
- Profit sharing.
- Workers’ compensation.
- Vacation plans.
- Social Security.
This coverage is typically added to a general liability policy, with the premium based on the limits that you decide to carry.
Equally important is employment practices liability insurance (EPLI), which provides coverage for claims made against your business based on discrimination, wrongful termination, sexual harassment or retaliation. Third-party coverage can be added for claims made by nonemployees. An important part of this coverage is for defense costs. Whether a claim is merited or not, you will still need to defend yourself in court and this coverage can help with attorney’s fees. Often, the defense limits are included in the policy limits. Keep an eye on this and consider higher limits from the outset. Often it doesn’t cost much more.
EPLI can be added to your workers’ compensation policy, directors and officers liability insurance, or written as a standalone.
