Employer Practices

The impact of Employer Practices for the insurance industry has become increasingly subject to legal constraints. An expanding series of laws regulate almost every facet of the employer-employee relationship. The laws deal with employee recruitment, testing, wages, benefits, nondiscrimination, occupational safety and health, workers compensation, wrongful discharge, unemployment insurance, pensions and other matters. Employers in the insurance industry must have knowledge of the law to avoid pitfalls. Employees in the insurance industry must also have knowledge of the law s- they can defend themselves when employers act illegally or when they feel their rights have been violated. Although the study of Employer Practices is worthy of several volumes, this course will provide a general overview of the more common employer practice issues confronting the insurance industry. to set the stage a brief overview is given of the industry and its employment of agents and brokers, who will be taking this course. This is followed by a history of the employer-employee relationship. In chapter one the laws are placed on a time line providing a rationale for why these prohibitions and rights were created. With this information as the foundation, the laws are outlined and employer practices, from pre-hiring to postotermination, are reviewed. This overview provides some practical applications to the law. Suggestions are made as to some dos and donts that should be considered.