Employment Law Solicitor

For more information contact
Jon Curtis, Partner
0114 272 1903 | email Jon
View Jon's profile

Ironmonger Curtis LLP
Registered office:
Edmund House,
233 Edmund Road,
Sheffield,
S2 4EL

0845 225 2635
0114 253 6559
info@ironmongercurtis.com

VAT number 852641622

Ironmonger Curtis LLP
SRA number 417712
Authorised and regulated by the
Solicitors Regulation Authority
Partnership number: OC310963
Members: Trevor Ironmonger, Jonathan Curtis, Simon Smith

Employment tribunal insurance

Employment tribunal insurance (also known as Employment Practices Liability Insurance or “EPL”) is one way that employers can protect themselves against the risk of employment tribunal claims.

How does Employment practices insurance work?
Most EPL schemes run on the basis that you pay a monthly retainer for the insurance and a monthly retainer for telephone helpline support.

Normally the insurance is dependent on having followed the solicitor’s advice from the beginning of the problem.

What are the advantages of employment practices insurance?
The key advantage is that you know how much you are going to spend on employment law in any one year – you should not get any unexpected costs.

What are the disadvantages?
The main disadvantage is that, in order to get the benefit of the insurance, you must follow employment law to the letter – this can be time consuming and frustrating.

On the other hand, if you wish to take “quick action” to resolve an issue you may not then get the benefit of the insurance.

EPL is great cover if you are prepared to manage your staff fairly and in accordance with employment law. If you have a more “maverick” (i.e. high risk) approach, EPL is probably not the cover for you!

How do you set up an EPL scheme?
Most EPL schemes involve insuring first of all that your house is in order. This involves checking your contracts of employment and company handbook to ensure that the statutory requirements are already in place.

Secondly, you will need to access the employment law helpline anytime you have an issue at work which might call on the insurance.

Are there any options?
The key considerations are as follows:

If you are prepared to pay an excess on claims your premium will reduce hugely
You may be able to exclude directors for instance from the scheme. This is a good idea if directors are family for instance (and trusted!) but a bad idea in most other situations.

More information on EPL
Please click here for more information on our scheme.