Employment Protection Scheme

The Scheme Concept

The Employer Protection Scheme is designed to give solicitors the capacity to offer employer clients the option of an employment and a health & safety risk management package on budgeted annual cost, which guarantees compliance, expert advice on day-to-day employment issues, and an indemnity for any legal fees, awards or settlements that arise if they have a dispute.

The scheme is not only about the provision of an insurance facility it is also about supporting firms in structuring and selling their employment services to get employer clients signed up to a retained service by using effective and efficient methods. The scheme is about delivering measurable results for firms who wish to increase their retained commercial fee income and the overall value the practice.

The Employer Protection Scheme is an important part of our Albion Legal Support Plan. Offering a commercial employment law advisory service is one area of your practice where you can be proactive. A correctly structured employment law retainer service puts you in constant day to day communication with clients when other ad-hock commercial law services may be required.

How It Works
 
The scheme operates by offering employer clients a selection of “bolt on” components to tackle their employment compliance, manage their staff and ultimately protect their business. These components normally fall into three core categories but can be extended to other services (such as training, HR management software, document suites etc.)
 
• Advisory Service - The advisory service is provided so that when clients have a question on employment legislation or have a problem with an employee, they can telephone you for advice. If they purchase the insurance policy then they will be required to seek your advice and follow it for the insurance to be effective.

• Employment Practices Audit Review - The audit is a review of current employment practices and contracts (an opportunity to identify any weaknesses that exist, and a means of helping them deal with if effectively). 

• Employment Disputes Insurance - Should clients require the insurance, it is policy condition that they use the advisory service and undergo an audit.  Clients cannot take out the insurance policy in isolation and must subscribe to both these services as a minimum requirement.
 
The Insurance Policy
 
Simply, the policy should be looked at as an optional extension to your services. It covers representation costs, awards and settlements where your clients become involved in an employment dispute.
 
There are many different ways to structure the policy to suit the perceived needs and premium requirements for individual clients. We will assist in training on the policy and how it can be tailored to a client’s particular needs. Some of the most common choices are as follows.

• We can cover awards and settlements leaving the client to pick up your representation costs.
• We can tailor policy excesses, indemnity limits and level of cover on a bespoke basis.
• Health and Safety criminal prosecution cover and services can be added.
• Disputes in respect of the directors can be excluded in order to reduce the premium levels if clients do not perceive this to be an exposure.
• Cover is given for pursuit costs where an employee is in breach of the terms of their employment contract.

Claims Handling

You are given automatic authority to accept and handle claims. Underwriters do not have an in-house claims team and rely on your experience on employment matters to work responsibly with them to create a long term cost-effective risk transfer mechanism for your clients.

Hourly rates for handling claims are agreed at the time clients are offered a quotation. Your fee structures will not, therefore, be contested when your bills are submitted. A higher agreed hourly rate of course will mean a higher rated insurance premium.

A large portfolio of business resulting from the scheme will enable underwriters will be able to apply a pragmatic and flexible approach to resolving claims issues.

On acceptance to proceed, full training and support on policy wording and how it is intended to respond to a claim will be given.

Charging for Your Services
 
We provide guidance on how other firms and competitors structure their prices and what is best included as part of the advisory and audit services (insurers have a minimum requirement if a client wants the insurance cover). However, we do not dictate what you should charge.

How it Benefits your Clients
 
The scheme enables clients to continue using your regulated services with the benefit of knowing their financial exposure to the defence costs and awards are properly covered. They will no longer have to accept questionable advice from unqualified consultants or ‘faceless’ call centres.
 
Another principal benefit of the scheme is it that it puts them in a position to know in advance that they are covered and will be acting within the law, because they will have checked with you first.

It is a quality risk management and transfer solution for clients who know they must address their employment issues.
 
How it Benefits You

A correctly structured employment law retainer service puts you in constant day-to-day communication with clients. You are therefore in front of the client to secure ad-hock commercial business.

It puts your employment team in a competitive position to offer a fuller service and it also attracts and secures new clients. By adding the insurance to existing services for help-lines, newsletters, audits and seminars they are in a very strong position to deliver their message.
 
The helpline and audit clearly enables greater communication between you and the client. The audit is a reason to visit the client and gain business from identified remedial problems. The helpline encourages the client to call you and over it is anticipated that your clients will see you more than just as their solicitor, but as an essential aid to the day-to-day running of their business.
 
The helpline will also generate more fee income as a proportion of the calls received will be non-contentious matters. By dealing with those queries, outside the remit of policy cover, you are in an ideal position to carry out additional work which they may otherwise have deferred.
 
We will assist in developing the scheme to your requirements, tailoring it around both you and your clients.
 
What is Required of You?
 
We look to install this scheme with a ‘slow burn’ approach. In other words, it is your decision on how you roll it out. There are no constraints on the number of clients you offer this to, nor the amount of marketing budget you should allocate.
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The advisory helpline will require staffing during normal business hours.  It will need to be serviced by suitably qualified staff who will be conversant in the scheme’s mechanics and know what is expected.
 
You may already have experience in offering audits/health checks, but we can provide templates and guidance to assist. We will make sure you know what should be covered for insurance purposes and explain the points raised in the audit templates.
 
What We Provide
 
We act on your behalf in representing you and your clients’ interests to the underwriters / insurers and will support you on all aspects of the scheme’s installation. We explain how the scheme has benefited other firms and what will work best to enhance fee income. Should you identify an innovative way to offer the scheme, we will work together with you and the Insurers.

We can work closely with your marketing team, identifying the right market to target. We can help support you in the provision of seminars, dedicated sales staff and in the communication of the benefits of the insurance policy to your clients.

In time we can identify and build relationships with local intermediaries, such as insurance brokers, accountants etc., with a view to commission for selling your scheme. This has the benefit of increasing your profile with other service provider’s client bases. We will train and assist intermediaries to sell your scheme.

Our assistance can be as far reaching as you wish and could include any of the following:

• Full training on operation of scheme, sales methods and policy coverage.
• Marketing assistance to launch and promote the product.
• Provision of a dedicated sales consultant.
• Access to a sales person employed by us to promote this product
• Sales training to partners and fee-earners including how to promote cross selling within the firm.
• Advice and assistance on networking and promoting the scheme to affinity groups, brokers and accountants etc.
• Health & Safety advice service that can be added to the package.
• Premium and fee instalment facilities.