Worker’s Compensation is often the main concern for staffing companies when they send employee’s to a client location. However another large hazard looms and is often misunderstood. Regardless of what type of placement staffing firms make, they all need Professional Liability insurance. The three main categories of exposure firm’s face are: the placement exposure, actual work performed by the worker and any additional service the firm is affording to its clients.
Placement. Overlooked placement exposures often involve a lawsuit being brought against the staffing firm. This involves failure to provide the workers themselves to a contracting client, providing wrong or improper workers, and improper screening and testing. All staffing firm that place employees should have Professional Liability coverage, also called Errors and Omissions Liability insurance.
Work Performed. This involves a contract worker who has the necessary background according to the staffing firm but makes mistakes that results in a financial loss for the client. Staffing firms are responsible for the performance of all their employees while working for the client. Medical placements in emergency rooms and during surgical procedures have a higher exposure and increase the staffing firm’s risk to medical malpractice. Attorney placements, financial placements, and IT placements all make mistakes on the job, and are the responsibility of the staffing firm as well. Simple mislabeling by a nurse or a phone operator’s failure to notify a manager of a message have all caused large losses to staffing firms.
Services Provided. These involve additional services the staffing firm is providing to their clients, such as consulting activities. Any services provided to clients can result in mistakes, dissemination of improper information, failure to act or failure to advise; all of which may result in sizeable claim situations against the staffing firm.
It is important for staffing firms that make professional placements to secure Professional Liability insurance. Staffing placements and services are often the subject of class action suits involving a large number of people bringing suit against a staffing firm.
Jordan Markuson of Heffernan is an Insurance Broker specializing in placing Workers Compensation and Liability Insurance for Temporary Staffing Agencies. Jordan champions a proprietary holistic approach to the claims process that ultimately leads to significantly reduced premiums.