Affiliates, like every place of employment, face the risk of employment-related claims such as wrongful termination, sexual harassment, wage and hour law, discrimination (age, gender, race, religion, etc.), breach of contract and more. These allegations may be brought against your affiliate by current and former employees, or even a prospective job candidate you interviewed.

Along with claims from employees, employers must adhere to employment laws and regulations for hiring practices, employee benefits, leaves of absence and termination practices. Failing to comply with the ever-changing legal requirements can have a devastating impact on your affiliate.

To support affiliates, The Habitat for Humanity Affiliate Insurance Program offers Employment Practices Liability insurance to help protect your practice from claims that may be made against you as an employer. Coverage includes the cost of fighting allegations in court, regardless of the outcome, as well as judgements or settlements that may result. As part of this coverage, you have access to EPL Assist™, a leading employment practices resource from the program carrier, Chubb.

Read on to learn more about EPL Assist and how it can support your employment practices.

About EPL Assist

EPL Assist is a cutting-edge risk management program providing affiliates access to a wide variety of legal content, forms and analysis. Combined with the ability to interact directly with the nation’s premier employment and labor law firm, Littler Mendelson (Littler), affiliates have access to the content and advice necessary to compete in today’s challenging employment environment.

To use EPL Assist, you must first register your affiliate.

  1. Register your account at EPLAssist.com/User/Register.
  2. You will receive login credentials to your email after submitting your details.

Once you have a registered account, you can log in to the EPL Assist website and call the toll-free number or submit a question via the “Have an Employment Law Question?” dialog box.

EPL Assist features:

  • Employment law updates, newsletters and related publications
  • Free, live training webinars on the prevention of sexual harassment, which complies with California AB 1825
  • Free education videos to help prevent workplace harassment, available in both English and Spanish
  • Complimentary video series providing advice on employment best practices, including:
    • Conducting workplace investigations
    • Minimizing termination risks
    • Data security
    • Employee background checks
    • Release of claims
    • Unemployment claims
    • Responding to EEOC charges

EPL Assist benefits:

  • No cost, online and live hotline access to the legal experts at Littler, one of the preeminent employment and labor firms in the U.S.
  • A compendium of online employment law resources through a secure website, including unlimited access to content such as:
    • Employment policies and practices
    • Human Resources forms library
    • Sample employee handbooks, including supplement information for several states and Puerto Rico
    • State and national employment law summaries and reference materials
    • Fifty state surveys on various employment law essentials, including minimum wage and overtime requirements, protected classifications, new hire reporting requirements, meal and rest break requirements and voting rights requirements and more
  • Complimentary registration to Littler’s breakfast briefing series, including webinars and podcasts
  • Discounted rates for various Littler events

Protecting Your Affiliate from Employment Claims

Along with utilizing the services of EPL Assist, there are additional actions you can take to prevent employment-related claims:

  • Always follow hiring and firing best practices.
  • Create a welcoming and professional environment.
  • Require bias and harassment training for employees.
  • Develop and enforce safe workplace policies.
  • Train supervisors and employees.
  • Monitor operations to ensure a safe workplace.
  • Create an employee handbook with all workplace policies and procedures.

If you have questions about Employment Practices Liability insurance, your practices or EPL Assist, contact our dedicated team at HFHInsuranceService@LocktonAffinity.com or (888) 553-9002. Phones are answered Monday through Friday, 8 AM to 5 PM (CST).