By Alexa Gavin
Like most markets in 2021, the recruitment sector had its fair share of challenges to deal with and in this article, we look at the many reasons why recruitment consultant insurance has been needed especially with the year we have just endured and also the predicted year ahead too. Recruitment consultant insurance allows business owners to concentrate on finding the right candidates for positions with the right clients and not have to worry about falling foul of industry-specific anomalies that could cause them headaches down the line. We hope that, as a recruitment consultant reading this, it can explain exactly what recruitment consultant insurance is and how it will be of benefit to you.
Some areas where you would want to have recruitment consultant insurance are as follows, it can be worthwhile twinning your insurance with your cyber insurance policy as most recruitment agencies have to deal with personal details including addresses, individuals work history and bank details, personal details regarding family members and education history along with any other information such as driving history and any prison time if appropriate. As a recruitment consultant, it’s reliant on you to minimise risk by combining a comprehensive policy that even in an accidental information leak you have completed everything in your power to cover for any errors by being insured.
Professional indemnity insurance along with employee insurance can cover a recruitment agency for individual errors that happen, accidentally for all your staff members and it’s vital that as a professional recruitment agency you offer this cover, not only for you but for all your staff too. Even an accidental breach of information can lead to lawsuits being targeted against your agency no matter how big or small your organisation is. An insurance expert can tailor exactly the right package of a recruitment agency insurance policy just for you.
It’s not only the staff and the recruitment agency itself that requires insurance cover, but you should also investigate a directors’ and officers’ professional indemnity cover policy. Claims that are made over the actual running of your agency can be severely damaging to your reputation both as an agency and an individual so this is also a part that needs to be talked about when compiling your tailored recruitment agency insurance policy.
One of the most time-consuming parts of running a recruitment agency is ensuring that your candidates are telling you the truth about their history and capabilities. Even the most experienced employment agency can be fooled sometimes by an individual who is not qualified for the position, has told a few porkies on the application form, and is only found out to be inadequate for the job when it’s too late and they have started work. They could make massive errors leading to huge losses for your client or be working for a direct competitor and gaining vital and the most private insider knowledge and when discovered that they have pulled the wool over everyone, including you as the agency who recommended them, then you can be assured that you client will be back in touch and perhaps demand damages and at the very least a refund of any fees paid. With employee dishonesty cover including in the correct plan, you have this part covered. You still need to do all the checks and balances required beforehand, but this will cover you for that rough applicant who we all know is out there.
With almost every communication now having some part online, you need to be sure that information you are electronically sending out is free of any viruses which may well infect one of your clients or even a prospective work system which could have catastrophic results in loss of personal data, bank elements and in maybe, The Colonel’s case his secret herb and spice recipe details for his chicken covering. Your insurance broker will be able to talk to you about the element within your bespoke policy that covers you for computer virus transmission. Of course, and applicable to any element in your policy, you must show you have completed safeguards to a high, reasonable, standard yourself to prevent this from happening or you may well not be able to claim and most probably have difficulty in future insuring yourself for the relevant cover.
One major issue of course over the last 12 months in the recruitment arena has been employee safety. With an unprecedented pandemic arising, the need to be able to offer a normal safe working environment for your staff and also your candidates to go to has been added to by having to ensure covid safe working environments, and when you consider that this can be jobs within the National Health Service or the transportation sector where space is confined and social distancing is near on impossible it’s so important to ensure that this year, and almost certainly in the years to come, that your employee safety insurance policy is up to date and covers your agency for all the unexpected extras we now, as a planet, have to deal with.
Here are a few extra reasons, as if the above wasn’t enough, that you should have an adequate employment agency insurance policy in order. First off, your clients may well insist upon it and want to see your policy before they start to work with you. You can also turn this into a competitive advantage when pitching for new clients too. If your policy is so comprehensive, then not only will it put your mind at rest as an employment agency but also it should make it a really easy choice for a potential client to join you. It also protects your livelihood that you have spent so long and worked so hard to establish. You just cannot afford to let a criminal or an employee’s actions ruin your business and reputation forever.
Some areas you may not have even considered being insured against are clients or candidates making false claims about you or your business, specifically for financial or reputation loss where you had nothing to do with them but if you were not fully insured against these bogus claims you may not be able to afford to fight them and thus be left wide open to false accusations that you cannot defend purely because of your financial situation compared to the accuser. Another common way people make false claims is if they have an accident at your workplace when they are a visitor, a trip or fall, a hot drink spilt over them, personal items were stolen are some of the claims made against recruitment consultants over the last 12 months so it’s in your interest to ensure your recruitment agency insurance policy covers you, your employees and any visitors that come to your place of work.
