Staffing Employment Practices Liability Insurance 

From Fortune 500 companies to small local firms, they all rely upon staffing firms for their business needs. As a staffing firm, when you introduce your employee to another workplace there are inherent risks. As the employer of record you are responsible for their safety – and that extends to employment-related practice matters. Add to this, the fact that today’s environment has been further complicated by updated standards that are difficult to interpret, staffing firms face even more exposure to potential claims.

Case in point: Employees may be nominally employed by a staffing firm (which generally recruits them, places them, signs their paycheck, and provides them with benefits), but they actually work for a contracting employer that relies upon the employee’s labor, provides supervision, and sets the terms, location, and duration of employment. Under the new standard set by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), there is a strong possibility that these employees are economically dependent on the contracting employer and would be jointly employed by both their “actual” employer and the contracting employer.

What Does this New Standard Potentially Mean for Staffing Firms?

Employers using staffing firms to augment their regular workforce will be looking at agreements more carefully to determine where all relationships fall. They will be asking many due-diligence questions of staffing vendors, such as:

  • Has the staffing firm conducted a wage and hour audit?
  • What indemnification would the staffing firm provide in the event of a joint employer lawsuit?
  • Does the staffing firm have Employment Practices Liability Insurance?
  • What happens if both companies are sued—are they both on their own or is there joint and several liability?

World Wide’s EPLI Policy

Our Employment Practices Liability insurance is designed to protect staffing firms against claims brought by an applicant or employee for allegations, including but not limited to discrimination, sexual harassment, and wrongful termination. This policy, designed specifically for staffing services, provides coverage for applicants, a staffing firm’s in-house employees and, of course, clients are added as insureds (pursuant to your agreement with your clients), not just “additional insureds,” on our policy. We include coverage for Wrongful Business Environment committed against non-employees of the staffing firm or the staffing firm’s clients.

Highlights:

  • Individual Policy – separate limits and deductible
  • Deductible Aggregate Available
  • Insured Includes the Clients of the Staffing Service pursuant to your agreement with your clients
  • Duty to Defend
  • Broadened Definition of a Claim
  • Coverage for Workplace Torts
  • Wrongful Business Environment coverage
  • Knowledge of Claim is Limited to Corporate Officer or Risk Manager
  • Coverage territory is worldwide for all named insureds domiciled in the USA

 Submission Requirements:

  • World Wide Staffing Industry Insurance Application
  • Client Service Agreements/Contracts
  • Currently Valued – 3 Years’ Carrier Loss Runs
  • Copy of Employee Manual or Employee Handbook                                                                                                                                                      

A Special Program for World Wide Employment Practices Liability Policyholders

World Wide policyholders have direct access to core resources needed to keep up with employment law issues – online, any time – with HR Cares:

  • As a World Wide Employment Practices Liability policyholder, you are entitled to access a special program website – HR Cares – provided by the Insurance Carrier at no charge.
  • Website address information is provided along with the EPL policies issued to our insureds.