Every year, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) records as many as 75,000 or more charges filed against employers under federal statutes. The majority of these are against companies that have fewer than 100 employees. If you have only one employee, you’re at risk.

People are people, whether they work for a corporate giant or the next-door neighbor. Employees â€" including relatives and friends â€" sue their employers everyday for everything from discrimination, harassment and invasion of privacy to emotional distress, wrongful termination, breach of promise and much more. Even job candidates you don’t hire can sue and win.

You don’t have to be wrong to be sued. Even if you’re right, the cost to defend a case can be as devastating to a small or mid-sized business as a judgment against you. Even frivolous claims can cost you time and money to defend.

Business general liability policies exclude employment practices liability exposures. Others may offer limited coverage that might not meet your needs.

The average cost to an employer of an EEOC lawsuit exceeds $250,000. When damages are awarded that figure can skyrocket. That’s a heavy financial burden to bear. And it’s not always just the company’s financial assets. You can be liable as an individual. That makes it a personal and family issue.

The dollar figure is just part of the cost. Consider how much time spent away from your business a lawsuit would require from you or other staff, the emotional toll, the effect on morale and the potential damage to your company’s reputation and yours.

Resolving issues before they become problems is absolutely the best way to manage employment practices risk. Business owners and managers can sometimes spot potential problems before they escalate. What they may not have is an in-depth knowledge of the intricacies of employment practices law.

They also may not understand the proper way to resolve a problem to avoid liability down the road or the consequences of handling an issue improperly. To manage risk and avoid problems in the first place, Monitor maintains a toll-free employment practices liability hotline providing clients with expert advice on how to handle virtually any kind of loss prevention issue, large or small. Even better, the service is free of charge with unlimited usage.