Pub. 5 2015 Issue 1

18 AUTOMOBILE DEALER NEWS ILLINOIS www.illinoisdealers.com How do your employment practices measure up? All auto dealers, regardless of their employee count or rev- enue, have a lot to consider with regard to human resources (HR) and risk management issues. On an average work day, a business may encounter dozens of HR-related issues, such as hiring bias, wrongful termination, and harassment. The employer’s actions in dealing with those types of situations can be either positive or negative, and can potentially put an organization at risk for employment lawsuits and claims. Employers may approach HR- related issues—such as compliance with Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Americans with Dis- abilities Act (ADA) regulations, overtime pay, PTO, or dealing with emerging media—with the best intentions, but their efforts may be derailed by outdated policies or lack of best practices. The implications for human resource-related errors can be considerable. In fiscal year 2012, the U.S. EEOC reported nearly 100,000 job bias charges, resulting in more than $365 million in monetary recovery from private and state and local government employers. 1 Further, the EEOC’s statistics show that retaliation claims—the “low hanging fruit” for plaintiffs—have nearly doubled since 1997.2 They pose a great risk to employers because they can be clearly visible when reviewing an incident. Addition- ally, reviews of a company’s electronic correspondence are also increasing because businesses can be inconsistent in how policies are administered and in how they handle exceptions. Average judgments associated with poor HR practices can be monetarily devastating to a business, let alone the disruption they cause. Even with the best legal representation and an outcome that results in no monetary award, just defending claims of this type can cost a small- to mid-sized company a significant amount of money in attorney’s fees and legal costs. In this climate of increased risk for litigation, it is important to consider all remedies to control the risk and costs associated with HR decisions. While insurance policies can help protect your dealership from these costs, it also makes sense to safeguard your organization with pre-claim best practices and legal expertise to help strengthen your policies, practices, decisions, and actions. Many companies also need access to HR resources or second opinions to update or create new policies, or address new concerns or hot topics, such as workplace bullying. Could Your Employment Practices Lead You to Trouble?